I : 


1 


*\ 


BAPTIST 


PAMPHLETS 


^jjilnklpljia: 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST    PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

530   ARCH   STREET. 


CONTEXTS 


1.  A  Plea  for  Principles  ;    or,   Th»  Baptists   and  the 

Ordinances.     By  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Anderson. 

2.  Ancient  Landmarks  :  or.  Belief  and  Baptism  before 

Communion.     By  Rev.  W.  T.  Brantly,  D.  D. 

3.  The  Pure  Chnrch,  Characterized  by  Spirituality.    By 

Rev.  LuciAB  Hatden. 

4.  A  Pedobaptist  Church  no  Home  for  a  Baptist.     By 

Rev.  Robert  T.  Middleditch. 

5.  The  Sufficiency  of  Water  fojBaptizing  at  Jerusalem. 

By  Rev.  George  TV.  Samson.  D.  D. 

6.  Bunsen?s  View  of  Baptism,  Ancient  and  Modern. 

By  Rev.  Ira  Chase,  D.D. 

7.  Reasons    for    Becoming    a    Baptist.     By  Rev.    S. 

Remington,  A.  M. 

8.  A  Defence  of  Restricted  Communion.     By  Rev.  S. 

Remington,  A.  If. 


C^"  These  works  are  also  bound  separately,  in  paper 
covers,  for  general  circulation. 


PLEA  FOR  PRINCIPLES; 


OB, 


%\t  baptists  anb  %  ©rbinatiMS. 


BY 


GEO.  W.  ANDERSON, 

PASTOR   OF   THE   LOWER   MERIOX   BAPTIST   CHCRCH. 


"Proving  what  is  acceptable  unto  the  Lord. 


fljilnMpljht: 

AMERICAN   BAPTIST   PUBLICATION   SOCIETY, 


630  AKCH  STREET. 


This  volume  has  been  stereotyped,  and  thus  per- 
petuated, by  Deacon  Nathan  L.  Joxes  and  Horatio 
G.  Joxes,  Esq.,  of  the  Lower  Merion  Baptist  Church, 
near  Philadelphia. 


A   PLEA    FOR   PRINCIPLES. 


The  ordinances  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
are  precious  institutions.  They  are  fitted, 
when  duly  observed,  to  refresh  and  strengthen 
the  believer,  and  to  impress  the  hearts  of 
those  that  are  without.  The  Baptists,  in 
every  era  of  their  long  and  eventful  history. 
have  loved  and  cherished  these  ordinances, 
and  have  always,  sought  to  observe  them  in 
their  original  form  and  spirit.  They  deeply 
regret  that  their  conscientious  efforts  for  so 
good  an  end,  should  call  down  on  them  the 
censures  of  their  brethren.  They  can  affirm, 
in  all  truth  and  sincerity,  that  they  do  not 
willing!}-  make  the  sacred  ordinances  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  an  occasion  of  separation 

(3) 


A   PLEA   FOIl  PRINCIPLES. 


from  those  whom  they  esteem  very  highly  as 
sincere  believers  in  Christ. 

"Why  then  this  separation  ?  Whence  this 
difference  between  them  and  their  brethren  ? 
Why  do  they  not  conform  their  practice  to 
the  practice  of  other  disciples  of  their  com- 
mon Lord  ?  These  are  questions  that  may 
naturally  and  properly  be  asked.  And  it 
becomes  the  duty  of  the  Baptists  to  give  a 
kind  and  fraternal  reply.  Let  such  be  our 
attempt  in  this  little  work. 

The  Baptists  deem  it  necessary  in  all  re- 
ligious practices  to  be  governed  by  fixed  and 
established  principles.  They  have  there- 
fore made  careful  search;  and  as  the  result 
of  their  inquiries,  they  have  been  led  to  adopt 
certain  fundamental  principles  which  they 
believe  to  accord  with  the  dictates  of  sound 
reason,  and  the  teachings  of  the  Word  of  God. 
Their  practice  they  believe  to  be  the  neces- 
sary result  of  these  principles  which  they 
hold.     And,  without  doing  violence  to  their 


A   PLEA    FOR   PRINCIPLES. 


consciences,  they  could  not  reject  principles 
which  they  think  to  be  correct ;  nor  adopt 
practices  which  these  do  not  fully  sanction.  If 
they  are  in  the  wrong,  then,  when  they  differ 
from  other  dissiples  of  Christ,  it  must  be  be- 
cause they  have  incautiously  admitted  some 
wrong  principle ;  or,  from  correct  principles, 
liave  unconsciously  deduced  some  wrong 
practice.  They  are,  however,  always  open 
to  conviction ;  and  will  ever  have  reason  to 
be  grateful  to  those  who,  speaking  the  truth 
in  love,  point  out  what  false  principle  they 
have  adopted,  or  what  correct  principle  they 
have  misapplied.  It  is  only  by  a  kind  and  can- 
did consideration  of  fundamental  principles, 
and  of  the  connection  between  principles  and 
practice,  that  real  unit}-  in  the  truth  can  be  se- 
cured. They  would,  therefore,  earnestly  invite 
their  brethren  in  the  Lord  to  a  fraternal  ex- 
amination of  the  principles  on  which  they 
act,  and  of  the  process  by  which  their  practice 
is  deduced  from  these  principles. 
1* 


A   PLEA   FOR   PRINCIPLES. 


BAPTISM. 

Principle  I.  It  is  the  duty  of  all  who 
love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  keep  his  or- 
dinances in  strict  accordance  with  his  com- 
mand. 

This  principle  recognizes  the  supreme 
authority  of  Christ,  as  the  head  of  the 
church.  It  forbids  any  disciple,  or  any 
number  of  disciples,  whether  gathered  toge- 
ther as  a  church,  a  council,  an  association, 
or  a  convention,  to  alter  or  modify  in  any 
degree  what  he  has  commanded.  It  pre- 
scribes to  the  disciple  the  duties  of  inquiry 
and  obedience ;  inquiry  to  know  the  will  of 
the  Lord  ;  obedience  to  do  precisely  what  he 
has  enjoined,  without  change  or  modification. 
He  who  faithfully  carries  it  out  will  search 
diligently  for  the  precise  mind  and  will  of  his 
Lord.  He  cannot  consider  such  an  inquiry 
a  vain  and  unprofitable  one.     It   may  be, 


A   PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


sometimes,  a  long  and  difficult  task  that  is 
imposed ;  but  lie  will  not  shrink  from  it. 
Amid  the  multitude  of  footprints  in  the 
sands  around  him,  he  may  need  to  pause  long 
before  he  can  distinguish  between  those 
which  men  have  made,  and  those  which 
have  been  left  by  the  blessed  feet  of  the  Son 
of  G-od.  But,  if  he  is  to  follow  in  those 
steps,  he  must  prolong  his  search  until  he 
finds  what  he  has  sought.  Then  may  he 
move  as  rapidly  as  possible  onward,  tread- 
ing with  safety  and  with  joy  in  the  way  his 
Saviour  has  marked  out. 

In  this  the  Baptists  have  the  authority  of 
the  most  eminent  jurists.  Blackstone,  after 
defining  what  is  necessary  in  the  promulga- 
tion of  a  law,  says:  "But  when  this  rule  is 
in  the  usual  manner  notified,  or  prescribed,  it 
is  then  the  subject's  business  to  he  thoroughly 
acquainted  therewith."*  This  thorough  and 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  law  is  what  the 

*  N.  Y.  Edition,  1822,  Vol.  I.,  p.  46.' 


8  A   PLEA   FOR   PRINCIPLES. 


Baptists  have  always  held  to  be  obligatory 
upon  the  disciples  of  Christ. 

This  principle  demands  the  bowing  of  the 
disciple's  will  entirely  to  the  will  of  the 
Lord,  the  first  and  most  important  lesson  to 
be  learned  in  the  school  of  Christ.  He  may 
not  ask  what  is  most  easy  or  grateful  to  him- 
self, or  what  will  be  most  pleasing  to  his 
relatives  or  friends.  All  of  his  own  prefer- 
ences, as  well  as  those  of  his  nearest  and 
dearest  friends,  will  be  put  aside;  and  his 
constant  aim  will  be  to  keep  the  ordinances 
as  the  Lord  himself  has  commanded.  How 
very  appropriate  the  teaching  and  enforcing 
of  such  a  lesson  at  the  very  commencement 
of  the  young  Christian's  course !  How  desir- 
able that  the  sovereign  authority  of  Christ 
should  be  deeply  impressed  at  that  early 
stage,  when  the  mind  is  open  to  the  influence 
of  truth,  when  the  affections  are  warm,  when 
the  impressions  that  are  made  are  likely  to 
be  so  permanent.     A  Christian  will  be  weak 


A   PLEA   FOR   PRINCIPLES.  9 


or  strong  in  proportion  to -the  thoroughness 
with  which  he  has  learned  the  lesson  of 
prompt,  thorough,  implicit  obedience  to 
Christ. 

But,  if  we  are  thus  to  keep  the  ordinances 
as  the  Saviour  has  given  them,  we  need  to 
know  precisely  what  he  requires.  This  leads 
us  to  the  consideration  of  another  principle. 

Principle  II.  It  is  possible  to  ascertain 
the  precise  meaning  of  the  commands  of  the 
Saviour ;  otherwise,  they  would  not  be  bind- 
ing upon  us. 

It  were  surely  cause  for  deep  regret,  were 
each  of  the  followers  of  Christ  to  be  left  to 
guess  the  meaning  of  the  commands  of  his 
Lord.  How  little  of  uniformity,  then,  we 
could  hope  for,  in  Christian  conduct.  Unity 
of  practice,  so  difficult  to  attain  under  any 
circumstances,  would  then  be  utterly  hope- 
less. Each  one  would  guess  according  to 
his  own  preconceived  notions,  or  his  peculiar 


10  A  PLEA   FOR   PRINCIPLES. 


inclinations,  and  there  would  be  no  means 
of  deciding  upon  the  correctness  of  the  prac- 
tice which  any  might  adopt. 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  obedience 
can  be  secured,  or  how  it  can  be  rendered, 
to  a  command  that  is  obscurely  expressed  or 
imperfectly  comprehended.  When  the  sea 
is  angrily  hissing,  and  the  wild  wind  shriek- 
ing around  the  laboring  ship,  the  captain  on 
deck  may  issue  his  command  to  the  sailor 
aloft.  If,  however,  the  noise  of  the  warring 
elements  prevents  the  sailor  from  catching 
the  important  word,  he  could  not  surely  be 
counted  worthy  of  praise,  because  he  begins 
to  busy  himself  about  what  he  vaguely 
guesses  to  be  the  meaning.  Par  better  to 
descend  to  the  deck  and  learn  precisely  what 
is  required,  than  loose  the  sail  When  it  ought 
to  be  furled,  or  furl  it  when  it  ought  to  be 
loosed.  Or,  to  change  the  figure,  a  father 
from  beyond  the  sea  has  sent  to  his  son  a 
letter  of  special  instructions ;  but  it  comes  to 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  11 


his  hands  with  the  words  so  dimmed  and  ob- 
scured by  the  damps  of  the  voyage,  that  he 
is  unable  to  determine  precisely  what  it 
means.  If  he  is  wise,  he  will  not  rush  head- 
long to  the  performance  of  what  he  merely 
guesses  to  be  his  father's  wish.  He  will 
rather,  much  as  he  regrets  the  delay,  defer 
all  action  in  the  matter,  till  another  letter 
from  abroad  shall  make  his  father's  wishes 
clear. 

The  Baptists  cannot  think  that  there  need 
be  any  hesitancy  in  regard  to  the  commands 
of  Christ.  They  cannot  believe  it  to  be  im- 
possible to  know  precisely  what  acts  the  Lord 
would  have  his  disciples  perform.  There 
was  no  battling  of  angry  elements,  to  pre- 
vent the  great  Captain  of  our  salvation  from 
making  his  voice  distinctly  heard  by  those 
to  whom  the  commands  were  at  first  ad- 
dressed. And  no  unfriendly  damps  have 
blurred  or  obscured  the  meaning  of  those 
words  which  he  has  sent  across  the  sea  of 


12  A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


ages,  to  tell  us  what  he  would  have  us  do. 
The  meaning  of  his  commands,  to  those 
who  caught  the  words  that  issued  from  his 
lips,  must  have  been  perfectly  clear  and  dis- 
tinct. Nor  has  the  lapse  of  years  changed 
in  the  slightest  degree  the  original  import 
of  the  command,  or  laid  any  serious  diffi- 
culty in  the  way  of  those  who  are  willing 
honestly  to  seek  until  they  find  it. 

In  the  giving  of  a  law  it  may  be  justly 
taken  for  granted  that  the  lawgiver  means 
to  be  understood.  Blackstone  says :  "It is 
incumbent  on  the  promulgators  to  do  it  in 
the  most  public  and  perspicuous  manner ;  not 
like  Caligula,  who,  according  to  Dio  Cassius, 
wrote  his  laws  in  a  very  small  character,  and 
hung  them  up  on  high  pillars,  the  more  ef- 
fectually to  ensnare  the  people."*  Laws 
which  emanate  from  righteous  lawgivers 
are  designed  for  a  rule,  not  for  a  trap,  as 

*  Vol.  I.,  p.  45. 


A    FLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  13 


were  those  of  the  infamous  Caligula.  In 
order  to  serve  as  a  rule,  it  is  necessary  that 
the  terms  in  which  they  are  expressed 
should  be  perfectly  intelligible  to  those  who 
are  called  to  obey.  And  the  permanent 
obligation  of  the  law  supposes  that  thus  it 
must  always  be  possible  to  determine  with 
accuracy  its  original  import.  The  moment 
it  ceases  to  be  intelligible,  that  moment  its 
authority  is  at  an  end. 

The  celebrated  jurist,  Pothier,-  applying 
the  civil  law  to  contracts  that  are  helplessly 
ambiguous,  says,  that  contracts  thus  obscure 
have  no  binding  force,  and  that  the  person 
who  contracts  the  obligation  must  be  dis- 
charged. On  the  same  principle,  a  law 
that  is  hopelessly  obscure,  has  no  binding 
power,  and  no  person  can  be  held  respon- 
sible for  obedience. 

The  Baptists  regard  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 

*  See  Smith's  Law  of  Contracts,  p.  421. 
2 


14  A    PLEA    FOE    PKLNCIPLES. 


as  a  righteous  lawgiver  who  meant  to  be  un- 
derstood, and,  therefore,  gave  a  command 
which  he  presumed  to  be  perfectly  intelli- 
gible. They  regard  him  as  a  wise  lawgiver, 
who  has  chosen  terms  that  were,  and  ever 
will  be,  fully  adapted  to  make  known  with 
precision  his  very  mind  and  will.  They, 
therefore,  cannot  avoid  the  conclusion,  that 
his  people,  in  the  faithful  use  of  the  means 
that  lie  within  their  reach,  may  attain  to  a 
certain  knowledge  of  the  precise  import  of 
his  command. 

It  would  seem  to  be  scarcely  necessary  to 
lay  much  stress  on  what  approaches  so 
nearly  to  a  self-evident  truth.  But  the  dif- 
ferent phases  of  the  long  controversy  that 
has  been  waged  in  regard  to  the  ordinances 
of  the  house  of  Grod,  show  that  it  needs  to  be 
distinctly  presented,  and  its  claims  specifi- 
cally urged.  The  possibility  of  assured  cer- 
tainty in  regard  to  the  meaning  of  the  doc- 
trines and  duties  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  it 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  15 


becomes  us  to  recognize  fully,  and  to  main- 
tain with  constant  vigilance.  Without  such 
a  certainty,  the  people  of  God  can  raise  no 
effectual  barrier  against  the  inroads  of  those 
who  would  make  war  upon  all  that  is  vene- 
rable in  doctrine  or  in  practice. 

If  then  the  meaning  of  the  commands  of 
the  Lord  may  be  clearly  and  distinctly  as- 
certained, how  shall  we  proceed  in  order  to 
its  discovery?  This  question  prepares  us 
for  the  introduction  of  a  further  principle. 

Principle  III.  The  meaning  of  the  Sa- 
viours commands  must  be  sought  by  the 
application  of  the  ordinary  established  prin- 
ciples of  interpretation  to  the  words  in  which 
they  are  conveyed. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  business  of  life  is 
carried  on  by  means  of  written  language.  In 
consequence  of  this,  there  is  a  constant  neces- 
sity for  deciding  on  the  meaning  of  laws  and 
contracts,  and  other  written  documents.     To 


16  A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLE £ 


this  constant  necessity,  it  becomes  im- 
portant to  seek  out  certain  fixed,  unalter- 
able principles  of  interpretation.  Without 
such  principles,   binding  on  all  who    have 

Lsk  of  interpreting  laws,  and  contracts, 

locuments,  endless  discord  and  confu- 
sion would  arise.     The  law  which  forbids  a 

ld  thins:  to-day.  might  be  made  to  SailC- 
tion  it  to-morrow.  The  contract  which  one 
of  the  parties  supposes  to  mean  one  parti- 
cular thing,  the  other  might  decide  to  mean 
a  something  widely  different — perhaps   the 

reverse.  There  would  be  thus  no  au- 
thority to  law,  and  nothing  binding  in  con- 
tracts. In  short,  all  kinds  of  communication, 
by  means  of  written  language,  between  man 
and  his  fellow-man,  would  be  rendered  un- 
satisfactory, if  not  absolutely  useless. 

By  the  application  of  these  ordinary  fixed 
principles  are  to  be  interpreted  all  books 
and  documents,  of  whatsoever  kind,  in 
which  words  are  used  for  the  conveyance  of 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


human  thought.     They  are  to  be  ernr 
in   the   interpretation  of    the  Scrip- 

tores;  and  in  order  to  the  dis 
true  meaning  of  those  precious  words,  they 
must  be  stead.  .    The 

sacred   Scriptures,    while   often  tee 

tfi  that  lie  far  beyond  the  reach 
human  reason,   nevertheless  call  constantly 
into  play  a  human  instrumentality — 
language.     It  is  only  by  means  of  tb 
strumentality  that  its  truths  can  find  a 
to  the  human  mind.     It  follows,  ther 
that  the  meaning  of  the  sacred  books  must 
be  sought  by  the   application   of  the 
principles  of  interpretation  that  conduct  us  to 
the  true  meaning  of  other  documents, 
out    the    application  of   the  ordinary,  fixed 
rules  of  interpretation,  the  Bible   might  be 

to  teach  what  any  man  wished  it  to 
teach;    and   the    refutation   of    theol  _ 
errors  would  be  rendered  an  entirely  fa 

>k.     The  Word  of  G 
2* 


18  A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


stripped  of  all  its  authority,  and  all  its  in- 
fluence as  a  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice. 

Dr.  Planck  says :  "  Whoever  is  not  con- 
scious of  having  conducted  his  interpreta- 
tions according  to  such  rules,  [according  to 
fixed  rules],  cannot  certainly  think  of  at- 
tempting to  defend  or  to  oppose  the  correct- 
ness of  an  exposition.  *  *  *  *  We  ought, 
in  one  word,  to  have  such  rules  as  both  can 
and  must  be  regarded,  generally,  as  true  and 
binding.  So  long  as  such  principles  arc 
applied  as  are  admitted  by  one  party  only, 
and  rejected  by  others,  it  is  impossible  to 
unite  in  the  true  meaning  of  Scripture,  be- 
cause it  is  impossible  for  the  one  party  to 
convince  the  other  of  the  truth  of  their  inter- 
pretations,  or  to  show  the  falsehood  of  the 
opposite."  * 

The  views  of  the  Baptists  on  this  point 

*  Edinburg  Ed.,  p.  132. 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  19 


harmonize  with  those  of  all  the  ablest  .Re- 
formers, who  have  striven  to  disencumber 
the  theology  of  the  Scriptures  from  the  false 
interpretations  which  the  adherents  of  the 
Romish  Church  have  heaped  upon  it.  The 
fundamental  .rule  of  "Wickliffe,  Tyndale. 
Luther,  Melancthon,  Calvin,  "and  the  other 
leading  Reformers,  was  ever  the  same  as  that 
enunciated  above.  It  is  thus  expressed  in 
the  words  of  Melancthon:  "The  sense  of 
Scripture  is  one,  certain  and  simple,  and  is 
everywhere  to  be  ascertained  in  accordance 
with  the  principles  of  grammar  and  human 
discourse."  "  It  was  only  such  a  vigorous 
and  general  movement  as  the  Reformation," 
saysDr.Fairbairn,  "a  movement  basing  itself 
upon  the  true  sense  of  Scripture,  and  per- 
petually appealing  to  that  for  its  justifica- 
tion,— which  could  break  the  trammels  that 
had  so  long  lain  upon  men's  minds  in  this 
respect,  and  recall  sincere  students  of  Scrip- 
ture to  the  simple  grammatical  sense  of  its 


20  A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


words."  *  To  the  Baptists  it  has  ever  seemed 
important  to  adhere  without  wavering  in 
the  interpretation  of  commands,  as  well  as 
of  doctrines,  to  this  principle,  which  gave 
energy  and  vigor  to  the  Eeformation.  It  is 
regarded  by  them  as  the  only  safeguard 
against  the  return  of  all  the  errors  which  the 
Keformers  assailed  and  banished.  They  have 
been  led  to  seek  for,  and  faithfully  apply, 
rules  of  interpretation  which  have  thus  done 
such  noble  service  in  the  cause  of  God,  and 
which  have  secured  the  unqualified  sanction 
of  the  highest  legal  and  literary  authorities 
in  the  world. 

Principle  IV.  In  the  interpretation  of  do- 
cuments, each  word  should  be  taken  in  its 
primary,  ordinary,  literal  signification ;  and 
we  should  never  depart  from  that,  unless 
the  context  makes  it  absolutely  necessary ; 

*  Hermeneutical  Manual,  p.  68. 


A    PLEA    FOR   PRINCIPLES.  21 


and  then  the  departure  should  be  as  slight 
as  possible. 

The  principle  here  presented  is  applicable 
to  the  interpretation  of  all  kinds  of  docu- 
ments. A  firm  adherence  to  it  is  necessary, 
in  order  to  refute  the  arguments  of  those  who 
hold  to  error,  in  doctrine  or  in  practice.  It  is 
constantly  acted  on  in  our  courts  of  law. 
And  in  their  inflexible  adherence  to  it  is  to  be 
found  our  only  security  for  the  faithful  per- 
formance of  contracts,  or  for  the  uniform 
and  equitable  administration  of  law.  A 
case  such  as  frequently  occurs,  will  show  the 
manner  in  which  the  principle  is  applied,  and 
aptly  illustrate  its  importance. 

A  merchant  in  Ohio  writes  to  his  agent  in 
Philadelphia,  to  send  him  ten  pieces  of  blue- 
black  cloth.  He  receives  in  due  time  ten 
pieces  of  cloth ;  but  finds,  on  examination, 
that  the  color  is  a  jet-black  or  an  invisible 
green.  He  refuses  to  receive  them,  or  to 
pay  for  goods  which,  he  insists,  he  has  not 


22  A   PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


ordered.  To  secure  payment,  the  agent 
brings  an  action  against  him,  and  it  is  car- 
ried before  the  court.  His  lawyer  pleads  on 
the  trial  that  the  merchant  wanted  ten 
pieces  of  dark  cloth,  which  his  client  had  sent 
him,  supposing  that  he  was  not  so  narrow- 
minded  as  to  make  any  difficulty  about  the 
petty  difference  of  a  shade  or  two.  The  essen- 
tial thing,  as  it  seemed  to  him,  was  a  dark- 
colored  cloth — the  precise  shade  was  non- 
essential. He  further  states,  that  the  parti- 
cular shade  which  had  been  forwarded  was 
much  more  readily  found,  and  much  cheaper 
than  the  blue-black ;  and  that  thus,  by  a  jus- 
tifiable departure  from  the  precise  letter  of 
the  order,  his  client  was  both  consulting  his 
own  convenience,  and  promoting  the  real 
interests  of  the  merchant.  There  he  rests 
his  case ;  and  on  these  grounds  he  asks  for  a 
verdict  in  favor  of  his  client. 

But  notwithstanding  his  nice  distinction 
between    essentials    and   non-essentials,  the 


A   PLEA   FOR   PRINCIPLES.  23 


court  would  decide  that  this  was  a  question 
with  which  an  agent  had  no  right  to  inter- 
meddle— that  his  single  duty  waa  to  ascer- 
tain and  to  send  what  his  correspondent  had 
ordered.  And  while  all  due  credit  might  be 
awarded  to  him  for  his  desire  to  promote 
the  merchant's  interest,  the  Court  would  be 
under  the  necessity  of  informing  him  that 
the  only  proper  way  to  manifest  that  desire 
would  have  been  to  abide  by  the  literal 
meaning  of  the  words,  "blue-black  cloth." 
He  would  be  either  absolutely  non-suited,  or 
the  verdict  would  be  given  for  the  defendant. 
For  the  correctness  of  such  a  decision, 
reference  may  be  made  to  u  The  Law  of  Con- 
tracts/' by  John  William  Smith,  Esq.  The 
common  sense,  practical  rule  which  has  been 
adopted,  he  says,  "we  find  thus  tersely  ex- 
pressed in  Mallam  vs.  May,  13  Meeson  and 
Welsby's  Eeports,  517,  by  the  Court  of  Ex- 
chequer: "Words  are  to  be  construed  accord- 
ing   to    their   strict   and  primary   acceptation, 


24  A  PLEA   FOR  PRINCIPLES. 


unless  from  the  context  of  the  instrument, 
and  the  intention  of  the  parties  to  be  col- 
lected from  it,  the j  appear  to  be  used  in  a 
different  sense,  or  unless  in  their  strict  sense 
they  are  incapable  of  being  carried  into  effect."* 
Blackstone  says:  " Words  are  generally  to 
be  understood  in  their  usual  and  most  known 
signification ;  not  so  much  regarding  the 
propriety  of  grammar,  as  their  general  and 
popular  use?  "Where  words  bear  either 
none,  or  a  very  absurd  signification,  if  liter- 
ally understood,  we  must  deviate  a  little 
from  the  received  sense  of  them."f 

For  the  correctness  of  this  principle  in 
the  interpretation  of  literary,  as  well  as  of 
legal  documents,  we  have  the  authority  of 
able  writers.  Ernesti  directs  us,  "  not  readily 
to  depart  from  the  literal  signification  *  * 
i.  e.,  not  to  depart  from  the  literal  sense  un- 
less in  cases  where  the  literal  sense  is  tame, 
ridiculous,  or  contradictory.";): 

*  Am.  Edition,  pp.  421-2.  f  pages  59-61. 

?  Edinburgh  Ed.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  136. 


A   PLEA   FOR   PRINCIPLES.  25 


Dr.  Planck  says  :  "  We  should  seek,  in  the 
first  place,  the  literal  sense  of  every  passage 
to  be  interpreted,  as  it  must  be  afforded,  either 
by  the  general  usage,  or  by  one  which  is  pe- 
culiar to  the  writer.  But  why  this  must  be 
sought  first,  is  a  point  which  need  not  be 
explained  to  any  one ;  for  every  man's  na- 
tural sense  will  tell  him  why,  and  will  also 
instinctively  bring  him  first  to  this  means  of 
exposition."* 

This  principle  seems  to  the  Baptists,  as  well 
as  to  Dr.  Planck,  to  commend  itself  to  the  com- 
mon sense  of  men.  And  they  feel  themselves 
bound  to  apply  it  faithfully  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  commands  of  their  Lord.  They  do 
not  deem  themselves  at  liberty  to  sit  as  judges 
to  decide  what  the  law  ought,  or  what  it  ought 
not  to  require.  They  regard  themselves  as 
subjects,  not  judges  of  the  law.  It  appears  to 
them  to  be  their  first  business  to  use  all  dili- 
gence to  ascertain  the  literal  meaning  of  the 
*  Edinburgh  Ed.,  p.  137. 


26  A   PLEA   FOR   PRINCIPLES. 


words  in  which  the  command  is  given. 
When  that  is  once  determined,  then  the 
work  of  interpretation  is  ended,  and  the  duty 
of  obedience  begins. 

Application  of  the  preceding  principles,  in 
order  to  determine  luhat  is  to  be  baptized. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Baptists  uni- 
formly demand  the  immersion  of  the  candi- 
date for  baptism,  and  that  they  never  recog- 
nize any  thing  else  as  a  fulfillment  of  the 
law  of  the  Lord.  We  come  now  to  show 
how  they  are  led  on,  from  the  principles  they 
hold,  to  the  practice  they  have  adopted. 

It  is  conceded  by  all  that  the  Saviour  has 
given  the  command  to  be  baptized.  As 
faithful  servants,  and  especially  as  grateful 
disciples,  we  wish  to  obey  the  Lord.  In 
order  to  obey,  it  is  necessary,  according  to 
the  first  principle,  to  keep  the  ordinance  as 
he  meant  it  to  be  kept.  "We  are  led  to  seek 
with  earnestness  for  his  meaning,  because, 
according  to  principle  second,  we  hold  it  to 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  27 


be  possible  to  ascertain  precisely  what  he 
required.  In  order  to  determine  bis  mean- 
ing in  the  law  of  baptism,  we  are  taught  by 
principle  third  to  apply  the  ordinary  rules 
of  interpretation,  just  as  we  do  when  we 
wish  to  ascertain  what  truths  he  taught  in 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  or  in  any  of  his 
discourses  to  his  disciples,  or  to  others. 
According  to  principle  fourth,  that  mean- 
in  or  will  be  found  when  we  have  ascertained 

o 

the  primary,  common,  literal  meaning  of  the 
word  in  which  the  command  is  expressed. 

The  important  word  in  the  law  of  baptism 
is  the  Greek  word  "  baptiso.  Two  inquiries 
demand  our  attention. 

1.  ^Vhat  is  its  primary,  ordinary,  literal 
meaning  ? 

2.  Is  it  necessary,  in  order  to,  give  an  in- 
telligible sense  to  the  command,  to  depart 
from  this  primary  signification  ? 

If,  on  due  examination,  it  should  be  found 
that  the  primary,  ordinary,  literal  meaning 


28  A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES 


of  the  word  gives  a  clearly  intelligible  sense 
to  the  command,  then  it  will  not  concern  ns 
especially  to  inquire  what  other  meanings 
may  belong  to  the  word,  or  may  have  been 
foisted  upon  it  by  the  ingenuity  of  commen- 
tators. 

In  order  to  determine  the  meaning  of  the 
word,  it  will  be  necessary  to  quote  the  opin- 
ions of  several  learned  lexicographers  and 
scholars.  These  quotations  shall  be  taken 
from  members  of  different  religious  denomi- 
nations. None  of  them,  however,  are  Bap- 
tists, or  liable  to  the  suspicion  of  a  design 
to  favor  their  peculiar  views.  The  Baptists 
have  never  felt  themselves  under  the  neces- 
sity of  making  dictionaries  of  their  own  in 
order  to  justify  their  opinions  or  their  prac- 
tices. They  take  the  Lexicons  of  the  Greek 
language  prepared  by  scholars  of  other  de- 
nominations, and  find  in  them  all  that  is  ne- 
cessary for  settling  the  primary  meaning  of 
this  important  word. 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  29 


Liddell  &  Scott's  Greek  Lexicon. — 
14  Baptizo,  1.  To  dip  repeatedly.  Of  ships,  to 
sink.  Passive  voice,  to  bathe.  2.  To  draw 
water.     3.  To  baptize,  1ST.  T." 

This  is  from  the  second  English  edition 
of  this  great  work,  by  two  scholars  of  the 
Church  of  England.  In  the  first  edition 
they  inserted  as  a  second  meaning,  "  2.  To 
pour  upon,  to  drench"  This,  however,  in 
their  second  edition,  from  which  our  quota- 
tion is  taken,  they  entirely  withdrew.  In 
the  American  edition,  however,  the  Ameri- 
can editor  has  retained  this  meaning,  which 
the  learned  authors  saw  fit  to  discard.  Of 
course,  even  had  it  been  retained  by  them,  it 
could  not  affect  our  inquiry.  According  to 
the  fourth  principle,  we  seek  only  the  pri- 
mary, ordinary,  literal  meaning.  That  is  ex- 
plicitly given. 

Dr.  Kobixsox's  Lexicon  of  the  New 
Testament. — "  Baptizo.  A  frequentative  in 
form,  but  apparently  not  in  signification 
3* 


30  A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


To  dip  in,  to  sink,  to  immerse.  In  Greek 
writers,  spoken  of  ships,  of  animals,  of  horses, 
sinking  in  a  marsh ;  also,  of  men,  or  [of  men] 
partially  to  the  breast.  Also,  to  dip  in  a 
vessel,  to  draw  water.11 

Donnegan's  Lexicon,  London  Edition. — 
"  Baptizo.  To  dip,  immerse,  submerge,  sink' 
ships,  and  frequently,  to  sink,  viz.,  to  descend" 

Dr.  J.  Pickering's  Lexicon. — "Baptizo. 
To  dip,  immerse,  submerge,  plunge,  sink,  over- 
whelm;  to  steep,  to  soak,  to  wet? 

Dunbar's  Lexicon. — "Baptizo.  To  dip, 
immerse,  submerge,  plunge,  sink,  overwhelm,  to 
soak.  Passive.  To  be  immersed,  to  be  drenched 
with  ivine." 

Greenfield's  Lexicon  of  New  Testa- 
ment.— "  Baptizo.  To  immerse,  immerge,  sub- 
merge, sink;  in  K.  Testament,  to  vmsh,  per- 
form ablution,  cleanse :  Mark  vii.  4 ;  Luke  xi. 
38 ;  to  immerse,  baptize,  administer  the  rite  of 
baptism:  Mark  i.  4,  and  elsewhere." 

Other   Lexicographers   might  be  quoted. 


A   PLEA    FOR   PRINCIPLES.  31 


But  these  will  suffice.  They  are  all  ac 
ble  to  the  English  reader.  From  a  compa- 
rison of  these  authorities,  it  appears  that  the 
word  is  a  frequentative  in  form ;  that  is,  that 
it  denotes  the  repeated  doing  of  a  thing. 
Hence  Liddell  &  Scott  give  it  the  mean- 
ing "  to  dip  repeatedly,'1''  and  Donnegan  u  to 
immerse  repeatedly"  According,  however,  to 
Dr.  Eobinson,  it  is  a  frequentative  only  in 
form,  but  not  in  signification.  He,  there- 
fore, merely  gives  as  its  meaning  "  to  dip  inP 
All  agree  that  the  action  denoted  is  the 
same,  to  dip.  This  is  the  point  to  which  our 
inquiry  is  directed. 

It  will  also  be  noticed  that  Greenfield  says, 
that  in  the  New  Testament  it  means  "to 
wash."  So  also  do  Dr.  Eobinson  and  Dun- 
bar, whose  language,  however,  we  have  not 
deemed  it  necessary  to  quote.  The  Baptists 
think  that  any  person  can  satisfy  nimself 
of  the  incorrectness  of  this,  by  attempting 
to  substitute  "wash"   for  the  word  baptize, 


32  A  PLEA  FOR   PRINCIPLES. 


wherever  it  is  found  in  the  English  New  Tes- 
tament. The  learned  authors,  doubtless,  had 
they  expressed  their  views  in  full,  would 
have  removed  the  present  objection  to  their 
phraseology.  It  would  be  more  accurate 
to  say  that  the  word  may  sometimes,  whether 
in  the  New  Testament  or  elsewhere,  be  freely 
translated  by  the  word  wash.  This  is  ad- 
missible, however,  only  when  the  context 
shows  that  the  object  was  dipped  in  pure 
water,  and  was  consequently  cleansed  by  the 
process.  In  the  whole  range  of  Greek  au- 
thors, from  the  earliest  appearance  of  the 
word,  until  the  time  of  the  Saviour,  the 
primary,  ordinary,  literal  meaning  of  bap- 
tizo  is  fixed  and  unalterable.  And  the 
Baptists,  in  common  with  many  of  the  ablest 
scholars  of  other  denominations,  can  see  no 
necessity  for  assuming  a  special  signification 
in  the  books  of  the  New  Testament.  That 
invariable  meaning  is,  to  immerse,  or  some 
other  word  equivalent  to  it. 


A   PLEA   FOR   PRINCIPLES.  33 


But  our  second  inquiry  must  be,  whether, 
on  examining  the  law  of  Baptism,  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  depart  from  that  primary  mean- 
ing, in  order  to  make  an  intelligible  sense. 
Let  us  insert  the  word  "immerse"  in  the 
law  which  Christ  gave  to  his  disciples ;  and 
the  passages  will  read  as  follows,  a  reading 
as  plain,  and  as  easily  understood,  as  we  could 
reasonably  demand. 

"  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations, 
immersing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

"  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth 
and  is  immersed  shall  be  saved ;  he  that  be- 
lieveth not  shall  be  damned." 

This  is  clear  and  intelligible,  and  accord- 
ing to  our  principles  we  can  ask  no  more. 
Yet  we  may  pursue  our  inquiry  further,  and 
it  will  be  found  that  in  every  passage  in  the 
New  Testament,  where  the  words  baptize, 
baptized,    baptizing,    or    baptism    are    em- 


S-i  A    PLEA    FOE    PRINCIPLES. 


ployed,  the j  may  be  readily  translated  by  the 
words  immerse,  immersed,  immersing,  or  im- 
mersion. In  no  single  case  is  there  any  neces- 
sity for  departing  from  the  primary  meaning 
of  the  word.  Since  this  is  so,  the  path  of 
duty  would  seem  to  be  plain  and  clear  be- 
fore the  humble  and  obedient  disciple  of 
Christ.  No  matter  what  success  himself  or 
others  may  have  in  finding  particular  pas- 
sages, in  which  it  may  possibly  have  a  mo- 
dified meaning,  it  cannot  be  consistently 
allowed  to  influence,  in  any  degree,  his  prac- 
tice. He  is  concerned  only  to  know  the 
mind  of  Christ.  The  mind  or  will  of  Christ 
would  seem  unquestionably  to  be,  that  all 
who  love  and  trust  in  him  should  take  that 
literal  meaning  as  their  guide,  and  should  be 
immersed  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Baptists  are  often  censured  for  their  firm 
adherence  to  the  conclusion  which  we  have 
shown  to  result  inevitably  from  their  prin- 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


ci pies.  Will  their  Lord  censure  them  for 
carefully  using  these  principles  in  order  to 
ascertain  his  will;  or  deem  them  over-scru- 
pulous because  they  cannot  consent  to  change 
or  modify  an  ordinance  which  they  are  fully 
convinced  that  he  himself  has  established  ? 
They  know  no  better  principles  to  guide 
them  in  their  search  for  his  will.  They 
know  no  better  proof  of  honest  allegiance 
and  ardent  love  than  to  keep  his  own  pre- 
cious ordinance,  according  to  the  mind  and 
will  of  their  gracious  Lord.  They  leave 
their  judgment  with  him.  He  will  not  err 
in  the  decision  that  he  makes. 

INFANT   BAPTISM. 

Why  do  the  Baptists  deem  this  solemn 
ordinance  of  no  authority,  and  wound  the 
feelings  of  their  brethren  who  practice  it 
as  an  ordinance  of  God?  The  answer  to 
this  we  shall  endeavor  to  give  in  all  kir.d- 


§6  A   PLEA    FOE    PRINCIPLES. 


ness;  and  this  will  bring  into  view  a  further 
principle  which  the  Baptists  hold. 

Principle  V.  An  ordinance  which  has  been 
established  bj  a  direct  command,  can  never 
be  set  aside  by  one  for  which  a  command 
equally  clear  and  direct  cannot  be  shown. 

A  wise  lawgiver  will  never  enact  two  laws 
that  necessarily  conflict  with  each  other. 
Every  law  is  the  expression  of  the  will  of 
him  who  enacts  it.  If  he  wills  his  subjects 
to  do  one  particular  thing,  he  surely  does 
not  will  them,  at  the  same  time,  to  do  .an- 
other thing  which  must  prevent  the  doing 
of  the  former.  If,  therefore,  the  baptism  of 
believers  and  the  baptism  of  infants  neces- 
sarily conflict  with  each  other,  they  cannot 
both  be  ordinances  of  the  Lord's  appoint- 
ment. It  becomes  our  duty  to  ascertain  which 
of  them  has  the  sanction  of  the  divine  com- 
mand, and  which  of  them  rests  its  claims 
on  lower,  or  questionable,  authority.     "When 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLE*.  7 


tliis  has  been  determined,  the  one  that  is 
commanded  must  be  faithfully  observed  ;  the 
«>ne  that  lacks  the  same  authority  should  be 
disregarded.  It  may  be  sustained  by  many 
and  plausible  inferences ;  but  no  number  of 
inferences,  however  plausible  they  may  be. 
can  avail  when  weighed  against  the  autho- 
rity of  a  positive  command  of  the  Lord. 

An  illustration  of  this  principle,  directly 
to  our  purpose,  is  furnished  by  the  sacred 
Scriptures  in  the  history  of  the  man  of  God. 
who  was  sent  from  Judah  to  prophesy  against 
Bethel."  He  had  been  strictly  commanded 
by  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  eat  no  bread 
and  drink  no  water,  in  the  place  to  which  he 
was  sent.  Having  performed  his  mission, 
and  successfully  resisted  one  temptation  to 
disobey  the  word  of  the  Lord,  he  departed 
on  his  journey  homeward.  An  old  prophet 
of  Bethel,  however,  who  had  heard  of  his 
mission,  rode  after  him  and  urged   him  to 

*  1  Kings,  13. 


38  A    PLEA    FOE    PRINCIPLES. 


return.  He  refused  again,  as  he  had  done 
before.  But  when  the  Bethelite  proclaimed 
himself  a  prophet  also,  and  stated  that  an 
angel  had  bid  him  follow  in  his  course  and 
bring  him  back,  he  consented  to  return. 
Here  was  a  case  in  which  a  something  of 
doubtful  authority  came  in  conflict  with  the 
direct  command  of  God.  On  the  one  hand 
was  the  positive  command  of  the  Lord  to 
the  prophet  himself;  on  the  other,  the  word 
of  the  old  prophet  of  Bethel,  and  the  mes- 
sage which  he  said,  he  bore  from  the  ansrel. 
A  clear  judgment  would  have  discerned  on 
which  side  duty  lay;  an  obedient  spirit 
would  have  followed  the  explicit  command. 
The  situation  was  a  trying  one  to  a  weak 
mind  and  a  wavering  heart.  The  prophet 
disobeyed,  and  the  punishment  which  he  had 
merited  speedily  came  upon  him.  And  by 
this  example,  men  in  all  succeeding  genera- 
tions are  taught  this  important  lesson :  A 

DIRECT  COMMAND   OF  GOD   CAN  ONLY  BE   SET 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  39 


ASIDE    BY   ANOTHER  COMMAND    EQUALLY    EX- 
PLICIT FROM  HIM. 

The  foregoing  remarks  will  aid  their 
brethren  in  the  examination  of  the  position 
which  the  Baptists  have  assumed  in  regard 
to  the  rite  of  infant  baptism.  Three  things 
seem  to  them  to  be  unmistakably  true. 

1.  The  baptism  of  believers  is  clearly  and 
explicitly  commanded. 

2.  Xo  clear  command  is  given  for  the  bap- 
tism of  infants. 

8.  The  two  ordinances  are  in  direct  con- 
flict,* one  ever  tending  to  supercede  the  other. 

The  reasons  which  lead  the  Baptists  to  re- 
gard these  '  propositions  as  true,  may  be 
briefly  presented. 

1.  The  baptism  of  believers  is  generally 
conceded  to  have  the  authority  of  a  distinct 
command  for  its  observance.  It  is  contained 
in  the  commission  given  by  our  Lord  to  his 
apostles.     By   combining  the   testimony  of 


40  A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


Matthew  and  Mark,  in  regard  to  that  com- 
mission, we  find  that  its  full*  import  may  be 
thus  expressed:  Go  ye  into  all  the  world 
and  teach  all  nations,  preaching  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature,  baptizing  those  who  be- 
lieve, in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  that  be- 
lieveth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved;  he 
that  belie veth  not  shall  be  damned. 

This  is  universally  conceded  to  enjoin 
upon  the  apostles  the  duty  of  baptizing  be- 
lievers;  and,  as  it  has  often  been  justly  re- 
marked,  the   command   to   the   apostles   to 

« 
baptize  those  who  exercise  faith,  implies  ne- 
cessarily the  duty  of  believer^  to  submit 
themselves  to  the  rite.  By  the  •  commission, 
however,  the  administrators  of  the  ordinance 
are  charged  with  the  care  of  its  observance ; 
they  are  taught  both,  what  is  the  act,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  and  who  are  the  subjects. 
In  regard  to  the  directness  and  explicitness 
of  this  command,  the  Baptists  are*  happy  to 


A    PLEA    FOR   PRINCIPLES.  41 


have  the  concurrent  opinion  of  most,  if  not 
all  of  their  fellow  disciples. 

Lest  we  should  seem  to  overlook  any  of 
the  opinions  of  Christian  brethren,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  glance  at  one  interpretation  of 
the  commission  which  some  have  advocated, 
and  show  why  it  has  never  commended 
itself  to  the  judgment  of  the  Baptists.  It 
is  thought  by  some  that  the  apostles  were 
commanded  to  make  disciples  by  baptism ; 
as  though  their  commission  had  read:  Go 
ye  into  all  the  world  and  make  disciples  of 
every  creature,  by  baptizing  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  By  virtue  of  the  command, 
as  thus  understood,  some  few,  perhaps,  are  led 
to  baptize  infants,  in  order  to  makes  disciples 
of  them. 

The  Baptists  have  never  been  able  to 
adopt  this  view  of  the  commission  for  the 
following,  among  other  reasons. 

It  does  not  require  faith  in  order  to  bap- 
4* 


42  A    PLEA   FOR   PRINCIPLES. 


tism ;  and  therefore  it  is  as  proper  to  make  dis- 
ciples of  men  and  women  as  of  infants,  by  the 
administration  of  the  rite.  If  all  nations  are 
to  be  made  disciples  by  such  a  summary  pro- 
cess, then  the  first  duty  of  a  missionary  to  a 
heathen  nation  would  seem  to  be  to  baptize 
both  old  and  young.  Then  Francis  Xavier, 
and  the  Jesuits  that  followed  in  his  footsteps, 
were  right  when-  they  administered  the  rite 
with  such  profuse  liberality. 

It  does  not  require  faith ;  then  we  must 
suppose  that  the  apostles  went  beyond  the 
command  of  their  Lord,  when  they  made 
faith  in  him  a  prerequisite  to  the  administra- 
tion of  the  ordinance.  One  instance  of  this 
demand  for  faith  is  clear  and  explicit,  and 
may  justly  be  taken  as  proof  of  their  gene- 
ral practice.  "If  thou  believest  with  all  thy 
heart,"  said  Philip  to  one  who  asked  for 
baptism,  at  his  hands,  "thou  mayest."  As 
the  Baptists  search  the  records  of  the  doings 
of  these  early  servants  of  the  Lord,  and  ex- 


A    PLEA    FOR   PRINCIPLES.  43 


amine  the  letters  which  they  penned  so  full 
and  rich  in  their  instruction  to  the  churches, 
they  find  no  single  instance  of  a  believer  on 
whom  the  duty  of  baptism  was  not  speedily 
urged,  and  not  one  single  example  of  a 
person  baptized  without  a  profession  of  his 
own  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

They  cannot  then  extend  the  commission 
to  embrace  any  that  have  not  faith;  they 
must  regard  it  as  a  solemn  command  of  the 
Lord  to  baptize  all  believers,  after  they  have 
come  to  exercise  precious  faith  in  him. 

2.  Xo  clear  command  is  given  for  the 
baptism  of  infants. 

If  there  be  any  undoubted  authority  from 
the  Lord  for  the  observance  of  infant  bap- 
tism, it  is  competent  for  those  who%  have 
found  it  to  publish  their  discovery.  If  such 
there  be,  the  Baptists  have  sought  it  in  vain, 
although  they  have  searched  with  care,  and 
have  often  asked  their  brethren  to  aid  them 
in   their  inquiry.     They  search   the  sacred 


44  A    PLEA    FOE    PRINCIPLES. 


Scriptures — the  Christian's  only  rule  of  faith 
and  practice,  and  find  therein  no  trace  of 
a  written  command.  They  peruse  with  care 
the  books  in  which  their  brethren  explain 
and  defend  the  rite ;  but  no  command  is  pre- 
sented. They  ask  for  the  grounds  of  its  ob- 
servance, only  to  find  that  its  most  zealous 
friends  are  not  agreed  among  themselves  on 
this  essential  point.  Dr.  Chalmers  points 
them  to  the  Abrahamic  covenant :  "  It" — 
?'.  e.  the  passage  in  Bom.  iii.  15,  which  refers 
to  the  Abrahamic  covenant — "  seems  to  con- 
tain in  it  the  main  strength  of  the  scriptural 
argument  for  infant  baptism."  Dr.  Moses 
Stuart  replies:  " The  Abrahamic  covenant 
furnishes  no  ground  for  infant  baptism." 
Several  churches — among;  them  the  Komish 
Church — baptize  infants  in  order  to  bring 
them  into  the  church;  others — including 
those  technically  called  Eeformed  Churches 
■ — baptize  them  because  they  were  born 
therein.      Many  learned  writers   find   their 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  45 


main  reasons  for  the  observance  of  the  rite 
in  the  wide  acceptance  which,  they  say,  it 
found  with  the  churches  immediately  after 
the  age  of  the  Apostles.  But  the  Chevalier 
Bunsen,  whose  authority  will  outweigh 
scores  of  others,  affirms  with  confident  assur- 
ance :  "  It  was  utterly  unknown  to  the  early 
church,  not  only  down  to  the  end. of  the 
second,  but  even  to  the  middle  of  the  third 
<>entury." . 

In  the  absence,  then,  of  any  specific  com- 
mand for  the  rite  of  infant  baptism,  and  in 
the  perfect  chaos  of  opinions  as  to  the 
grounds  of  its  observance  among  its  friends, 
the  Baptists  see  an  ample  justification  of 
the  conclusion  to  which  they  come,  that  it 
has  no  divine  authority.  It  appears  to  them 
that  the  baptism  of  believers  is  like  the 
positive  command  of  God  himself  to  the 
prophet  of  Judah,  and  the  baptism  of  infants 
like  the  word  of  the  old  prophet  of  Bethel, 
and  of  his  fabled  angel  visitor.    They  think 


40  A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


themselves  called  upon  by  the  example  of 
the  prophet  of  Judah  to  exercise  a  sounder 
judgment,  and  a  more  implicit  obedience 
than  he. 

It  seems,  moreover,  to  the  Baptists,  that 
their  brethren  themselves  do  not  regard  the 
baptism  of  infants  as  equal  in  authority  with 
the  baptism  of  believers.  They  will  not,  as 
we  are  informed,  receive  into  their  churches 
a  professed  believer  who  refuses  to  be  bap- 
tized. They  cannot  countenance  such  pal- 
pable disobedience  to  a  direct  command  of 
the  Saviour.  But  when  he  has  once  sub- 
mitted to  that  command,  and  has  been  re- 
ceived into  the  fellowship  of  the  church,  he 
may  or  he  may  not  bring  his  infant  children- 
to  be  baptized.  His  neglect  may  be  long-con- 
tinued, systematic  and  open,  yet  few  are 
the  churches  that  would  put  him  out  in 
consequence.  It  is  not  the  design  of  the 
Baptists  to  draw  any  invidious  inferences 
from  this  well-known  fact;  or  to  make  any 


A    PLEA    FOR   PRINCIPLES.  47 


ungenerous  use  of  it.  They  only  refer  to  it 
to  justify  their  own  conscientious  course. 
They  admit  that  the  neglect  of  the  direct 
command  forms  a  sufficient  reason  for  refus- 
ing to  grant  a  person  admission  to  the 
church ;  but  they  cannot  see  why  a  stedfast 
refusal  to  observe  another  command,  that  is 
equally  binding,  does' not  constitute  an  ade- 
quate reason  for  putting  him  out.  It  is 
true  that  their  brethren  sometimes  publish 
to  the  world  their  conviction,  that  "those 
who  refuse  or  neglect  the  baptism  of  their 
children,  not  only  sin  against  Christ  by  diso- 
beying his  solemn  command,  but  they  also  de- 
prive both  themselves  and  their  children  of 
great  benefits."*  Yet  even  such  strong  lan- 
guage, from  a  friend  of  strict  discipline,  does 
not  come  coupled,  as  we  might  have  ex- 
pected, with  a  proposition  to  have  them  sub- 
jected to  the  discipline  of  the  church  because 
of  their  neglect.     From  such  facts  the  Bap- 

*  Miller  on  Infant  Baptism,  p.  42. 


4:3  A    PLEA   FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


tists  are  justified  in  their  inference,  that 
their  brethren  themselves  do  not  believe  the 
baptism  of  infants  to  rest  on  equal  authority 
with  the  baptism  of  believers.  They  may 
speak,  as  in  the  quotation  above,  of  a  "sol- 
emn command,"  but  it  is  not  seemingly  re- 
garded as  a  direct  command,  like  that  which 
the  ascending  Saviour  gave  to  his  disciples 
on  sending  them  out  into  all  the  world. 

3.  The  two  ordinances  are  in  direct  con- 
flict, one  ever  tending  to  supersede  the  other. 

It  is  not  assumed  by  the  Baptists  that  no 
two  ordinances  can  be  in  force  at  one  and 
the  same  time.  They  see  no  conflict  be- 
tween the  ordinance  of  Baptism  and  that  of 
the  Lord's  Supper.  They  are  separate  and 
distinct,  occupying  entirely  different  ground, 
with  different  ends  in  view.  It  is  only  when 
two  ordinances  both  claim  possession  of  a 
common  ground,  that  they  come  in  conflict 
the  one  with  the  other. 

The  baptism  of  infants  comes  into  conflict 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  49 


with  the  baptism  of  believers;  because 
those  -who  have  been  baptized  in  infancy, 
and  continue  to  acknowledge  the  validity  of 
this  rite,  are  thereby  prevented  from  being 
baptized  on  a  profession  of  their  faith  in 
Christ.  In  the  case  of  all  such  persons,  in- 
fant baptism  puts  aside  the  baptism  of  believ- 
ers. They  perhaps  rarely  pause  to  ask 
whether  the  ordinance  which  the  Saviour 
enjoined  is  binding  upon  them..  So  far  as  its 
influence  now  extends,  infant  baptism  pre- 
vents the  observance  of  that  sacred  and  im- 
pressive ordinance  which  the  Lord  has  es- 
tablished ;  and  should  it  ever  come  to  secure 
universal  sway,  it  would  cause  the  Saviour's 
law  to  fall  into  utter  neglect. 

The  reality  of  this  conflict  is  also  seen  in 
the  embarrassment  which  it  causes  in  certain 
cases.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  those 
who  have  been  baptized  in  infancy,  when 
they  grow  up  to  years  of  understanding,  and 
come  for  themselves  to  hear  and  believe  the 


50  A    PLEA   FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


Gospel,  to  desire  to  be  baptized  on  a  pro- 
fession of  their  repentance  toward  God.  and 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesns  Christ. 

Such  an  one  may  be  fully  convinced  that 
to  be  thus  baptized  is  a  positive  duty;  he 
may  long  to  obey  what  he  believes  to  be  the 
command  of  his  Saviour;  but  no  strength 
of  conviction  in  his  mind,  and  no  urgency 
of  desire  in  his  heart,  can  secure  him  the 
privilege  at  the  hands  of  those  who  baptized 
him  in  his  years  of  unconsciousness.  If  he 
finds  his  convictions  of  personal  duty  too 
strong  to  be  put  down  by  the  arguments 
that  are  brought  to  bear  upon  him,  and  feels 
his  desire  too  powerful  to  be  repressed  by 
the  influences  that  are  gathered  about  him, 
he  must  adopt  either  one  of  two  courses. 
He  must  either  go  to  the  Baptists,  or  to  some 
of  the  few  exceptions  among  the  ministry 
of  the  churches  with  which  he  has  been  as- 
sociated, and  ask  for  the  baptism  of  a  believer 
at  their  hands ;  or  if  he  shrink  from  this,  he 


A.    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  51 


may  live  on,  leaving  the  duty  unperformed, 
often  troubled,  often  uneasy,  but  neglecting 
still  obedience  to  the  ordinance  which  he  has 
been  convinced  was  commanded  by  the  Sa- 
viour. 

Thus,  in  the  case  of  many,  their  baptism 
in  infancy  tends  to  hinder  and  embarrass 
them  when  they  subsequently  come  to  wish 
for  believers'  baptism ;  while,  in  the  case  of 
others,  it  prevents  them  from  ever  asking 
whether  it  is  not  the  will  of  the  Lord,  that 
they  should  be  baptized  upon  a  profession 
of  their  faith  in  him.  Thus  it  tends  ever  to 
diminish  the  number  of  those  who  receive 
the  baptism  of  believers.  And  if  the  time 
should  ever  come,  when  all  who  are  born 
into  the  world  shall  be  baptized  in  infancy, 
then  the  baptism  of  believers  will  be  utterly 
abandoned,  known, — if  known  at  all, — only 
in  the  pages  of  the  New  Testament  and  of 
ecclesiastical  history. 

It  is  sometimes,  however,  argued  that  the 


52  A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


baptism  of  infants  does  not  conflict  with 
that  of  believers,  because  they  are  binding 
on  two  different  classes  of  persons.  The 
baptism  of  believers  is  binding  on  all  who 
have  not  been  baptized  in  infancy ;  the  bap- 
tism of  infants  belongs  to  the  children  of 
believers.  It  is  said  that,  as  they  are  not 
designed  for  the  same  class  of  persons,  there 
can  be  no  conflict  between  them. 

It  seems  to  the  Baptists,  however,  that 
there  are  two  valid  objections  to  this  view, 
ingenious  though  it  undoubtedly  is. 

1.  The  Scriptures  speak  of  "one  bap- 
tism" ;  by  which  is  doubtless  meant,  one  in 
regard  to  subjects,  one  in  regard  to  the 
prerequisites  and  one  in  regard  to  the  end 
and  design.  But,  if  the  supposition  which 
we  are  considering  be  correct,  there  are  two 
baptisms,  differing  entirely  from  each  other 
in  all  these  three  particulars.  The  Baptists 
cannot,  by  any  fair  process  of   reasoning, 


A    PLEA    FOR    PR^CIPLES.  53 


combine  these  dissimilar  rites  into  the  one 
baptism,  of  which  the  apostle  speaks. 

2.  If  the  baptism  of  infants  was  designed 
to  be  practiced  by  all  Christians,  then,  as  we 
have  already  remarked,  in  the  advance  of 
the  Gospel,  the  baptism  of  believers  will  be 
ever  administered  to  smaller  numbers,  until 
it  ceases  at  length  to  be  anywhere  observed. 
Its  place  will  thus  be  wholly  occupied  by 
the  baptism  of  infants.  The  baptism  of  in- 
fants, according  to  this  view,  would  be  the 
permanent  ordinance,  while  that  of  believers 
cnly  subserves  a  temporary  purpose.  If  such 
be  the  case,  it  seems  strange  to  the  Baptists, 
that  in  the  Xew  Testament  so  much  is  said 
of  that  ordinance  which,  in  its  nature,  is 
only  temporary ;  while  that  which  is  to  be 
perpetual  is  not  once  mentioned,  nor  even 
remotely  hinted  at.  Certainly  no  similar 
case  can  be  found  in  which  the  temporary 
takes  precedence  of  that  which  is  perma- 
nent. 

5* 


54  A    PLEA    FOE   PRINCIPLES. 


For  these  weighty  reasons  they  deem  it 
necessary  to  put  aside  the  supposition  that 
the  two  ordinances  are  of  equal  authority — 
a  position  which,  as  we  have  seen;  few  of 
their  brethren  practically  hold  —  and  de- 
signed to  be  binding  at  the  same  time  on 
two  different  classes.  Ingenious  as  it  may 
appear,  it  will  not  bear  the  test  of  a  careful 
examination. 

If  our  course  of  remarks  is  conclusive, 
we  are  led  to  the  following  results :  infant 
baptism  ever  tends  to  banish  the  baptism  of 
believers  from  the  churches — that  rite  which 
has  no  direct  divine  authority,  ever  tends  to 
put  aside. the  ordinance  which  has  the  direct 
and  explicit  authority  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  himself. 

The  Baptists  feel  compelled  to  exalt  the 
command  of  their  Lord  above  every  thing 
that  cannot  show  an  equally  high  authority. 
They  think  that  the  principle  by  which  they 
are   guided  is  eminently  adapted  to  honor 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  55 


their  Lord,  and  to  secure  a  just  regard  for 
his  authority.  They  think  themselves  bound, 
therefore,  by  this  principle,  to  ignore  the 
baptism  of  infants,  and  stedfastly  to  claim 
for  all  believers  the  privilege  of  obeying, 
without  fear  or  embarrassment,  the  com- 
mand of  their  Lord  to  be  baptized  on  their 
own,  personal  profession  of  repentance  and 
faith. 

They  are  sometimes  placed  in  circum- 
stances of.  special  delicacy  in  following  out 
their  principles.  Application  is  frequently 
made  for  baptism  at  their  hands,  by  those 
whom  fond  parents  have  brought  to  the  rite 
in  their  infancy ;  as  also  by  those  who,  in 
riper  years,  have  submitted  of  their  own  ac- 
cord to  what  they  then  believed  to  be  the 
rite  that  Christ  commanded.  If  they  refuse 
such  applications,  they  withhold  the  Sa- 
viour's baptism  from  those  for  whom  it  was 
designed.  Yet  if  they  administer  the  ordi- 
nance according  to  his  command,  they  must 


56  A   PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


treat  as  a  thing  of  no  efficacy,  or  authority, 
that  which,  to  the  fond  heart  of  some  chris- 
tian parent,  or  to  the  minds  of  christian  re- 
latives and  friends,  has  always  appeared  a 
sacred  and  solemn  ordinance  of  God.  They 
recognize  it  as  the  part  of  christian  cour- 
tesy to  treat  with  respect  the  opinions  and 
often  the  prejudices  and  errors  of  brethren., 
Yet  the  necessity  of  honoring  their  Lord  is 
always  paramount  with  them.  They  think 
themselves,  bound  to  honor  him  by  a  careful 
observance  of  the  commands  that  he  has 
given.  The  disciple  of  Christ,  unless  he 
loves  him  more  than  father  or  mother,  or 
brethren  or  friends,  is  pronounced  by  the 
Lord  himself,  unworthy  of  him.  And  he 
has  also  said :  "If  ye  love  me,  keep  my  com- 
mandments." They  would  be  wanting,  there- 
fore, in  faithfulness  to  Christ,  were  they  to 
allow  the  erroneous  opinions  and  prejudices 
of  brethren  to  stand  in  the  way  of  implicit 
obedience  to.  the  acknowledged  law  of  their 


A  PLEA   FOR   PRINCIPLES.  57 


gracious  Lord.  They  are  sorry  to  incur  the 
censures  of  brethren.  But  to  their  Lord  they 
stand  or  fall ;  they  leave  their  judgment  with 
him.  He  knows  how  honestly  they  have 
striven  to  know,  and  how  stedfastly  they 
have  endeavored  to  do,  what  he  has  com- 
manded. Their  brethren  may  deem  them 
separatists,  because  they  stedfastly  follow 
principles  which  must  ever  hold  their  ground 
until  the  day  for  the  triumph  of  principles 
arrives.  But  it  is  a  small  matter  to  be 
judged  of  men,  and  censured  by  them,  if  the 
Lord  will  condescend  to  recognize  the  hon- 
esty of  their  intentions,  and  the  purity  of 
their  motives,  and  to  speak  his  gracious 
approval  of  their  course. 

THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 

Of  all  the  charges  which  have  been 
brought  against  the  Baptists,  none  has  been 
urged  with  more  persistency  than  their  so- 


58  A    PLEA    FOE    PRINCIPLES. 


called  want  of  charity,  in  excluding  from 
the  table  of  the  Lord  so  many  of  their  chris- 
tian brethren.  It  is  under  the  name  of  exclu- 
sion that  their  practice  is  too  generally  spoken 
of.  Many  persons  do  not  see  the  injustice 
of  this  language.  Yet,  it  is  certainly  pos- 
sible to  draw  a  clear  distinction  between  not 
inviting  to  the  table,  and  positively  exclud- 
ing therefrom.  The  latter  is  at  least  the 
harsher,  perhaps  the  harshest  form  of  ex- 
pressing the  fact.  The  Baptists  might  per- 
haps be  justified  in  suggesting  that,  in  speak- 
ing of  them  and  their  practices,  their  breth- 
ren should  not  use  a  harsher  form  of  ex- 
pression, while  a  milder  and  more  cour- 
teous form  lies  directly  at  their  hand.  They 
claim  that  their  practice,  in  regard  to  this 
ordinance  also,  is  dictated  by  no  unkind  and 
uncharitable  feeling  toward  their  brethren ; 
but  results  necessarily  from  a  correct  scriptu- 
ral principle,  one  which  they  hold  in  common 
with  the  wisest  and  best  of  their  brethren. 


A   PLEA   FOR   PRINCIPLES.  59 


Principle  VI.  Since  the  ordinance  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  established  by  Christ, 
those  only  whom  he  designates  can  properly 
be  invited  to  participate. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  give  a  brief  sketch 
of  the  means  by  which  we  attain  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  Lord's  will,  in  regard  to  this 
sacred  ordinance. 

It  was  first  established  by  the  Saviour  on 
the  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed.  But 
there  were  present  on  that  occasion  only  his 
apostles.  How  is  it  shown  that  the  duty  en- 
joined upon  this  small  band  becomes  incum- 
bent on  all  the  churches  of  Christ  ?  It  would 
seem  to  be  necessary,  in  order  to  prove  its 
universal  obligation,  that  we  should  have 
something  more  clear  and  definite  than  what 
we  find  in  the  brief  narratives  of  the  Evan- 
gelists. Accordingly,  we  find  that  the  apos- 
tle Paul  furnishes  us  with  the  steps  by  which 
we  advance  to  the  conclusion  that  this  pre- 
cious ordinance,  first  given  to  the  apostles, 


60  A  PLEA  FOR  PRINCIPLES. 


was  designed  for  all  the  churches  of  Christ. 
We  find  it  in  the  epistle  to  the  church  at 
Corinth.  "  For  I  have  received,"  he  says,  "  of 
the  Lord,  that  which  I  delivered  unto  you." 
1  Cor.  xi.  23.  He  then  proceeds  to  give 
them  certain  rules  for  the  proper  observance 
of  the  ordinance,  and  certain  cautions  against 
its  abuse. 

We  may  notice,  in  this  language  of  the 
apostle : — 

1.  That  he  'had  received  what  he  taught 
from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  all 
which  he  prescribes  had  therefore  the  full 
weight  of  the  divine  authority. 

2:  That  the  ordinance,  with  the  rules  for 
its  observance,  was  given  to  the  church*  at 

*  The  Baptists  are  often  asked  how  they  find  a 
scriptural  argument  for  the  admission  of  women  to 
the  Communion  tahle.  If  it  were  as  easy  to  estab- 
lish the  right  of  infants  to  baptism,  they  would 
doubtless  soon  adopt  the  ceremony.  The  proof  is 
suggested  by  the  above  facts.  The  ordinance  was 
given  to  the  church  at  Corinth  by  the  apostle,  from 
the  Lord.     It  was  to  be  observed  when  they  came  to- 


A  PLEA  FOR   PRINCIPLES.  61 


Corinth,  for  their  joint  participation  therein. 
It  was  not  a  rite  to  be  observed  by  each  one 
singly,  but  when  they  came  together. 

3.  That  it  was  not  to  be  observed  without 
due  thought  and  proper  qualifications  on  the 
part  of  each  member  of  the  church. 

It  is  from  the  example  and  word  of  the 
Lord,  explained  and  enforced  by  his  own 
chosen  apostle,  that  we  derive  our  knowledge 
of  the  ordinance,  and  our  authority  for  the 
manner  of  its  observance. 

From  the  fact  that  this  ordinance  is  often 
called  the  Lord's  Supper,  it  is  sometimes 
argued  that  the  Baptists  ought  to  invite  all 
who  love  the  Lord  to  participate  in  its  pri- 
vileges. They,  however,  find  in  this  very 
fact,  that  it  is  the  Lord's  table  and  not  their 

gether — all  jointly  participating.  That  there  were 
■wives,  and  widows,  and  other  sisters  in  that  church 
the  apostle  himself  has  informed  us.  See  1  Corin- 
thians, 7th  chapter.  The  conclusion  is  sufficiently 
clear ;  the  proof  deduced  directly  from  the  sacred 
Scriptures. 

6 


62  A   PLEA  FOR  PRINCIPLE^. 


own,  a  powerful  motive  for  guarding  against 
any  invitation  that  is  not  in  strict  accordance 
with  his  will.  Were  it  their  own  table,  then, 
they  might  justly  extend  the  invitation  as  far 
as  their  feelings  prompted.  Then,  if  they  nar- 
rowed their  invitation,  they  might  with  more 
propriety  be  taken  to  task.  But  as  it  is  the 
Lord's  table,  they  have  no  right  to  make  any 
rule,  either  for  the  admission,  or  for  the  ex- 
clusion of  any.  They  are  in  so  sense  law- 
makers. They  are  the  subjects  of  the  law 
of  Christ,  bound  to  invite  all  whom  he 
invites,  equally  bound  not  to  enlarge  the 
invitation  which  he  has  given. 

In  the  following  propositions  we  have  the 
concurrence  of  all,  except  perhaps  a  small 
proportion  of  our  brethren. 

The  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  be- 
longs exclusively  to  the  churches  of  Christ. 
It  was  given  to  them  for  their  spiritual 
growth,  in  remembering  their  Lord,  and  for 
the  promotion  of  his  sacred  cause,  by  show- 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  63 


ing  forth  his  death  until  he  comes.  Its  sweet 
and  precious  privileges  pertain  to  none  out- 
side of  the  churches  of  his  saints.  Of  course, 
an  invitation  should  be  given  to  all  who 
have  been  received  into  his  churches,  in  the 
way  that  the  Lord  has  prescribed ;  and  no 
invitation  can  be  given,  by  his  authority,  to 
any  who  have  not  been  thus  received. 

All  who  have  been  received  into  his 
churches  in  the  way  that  the  Lord  has  pre- 
scribed— such,  and  only  such,  are  the  persons 
to  be  invited,  by  the  authority  of  Christ,  to 
come  to  the  Communion  table. 

The  Baptists  have  striven  ever  to  abide 
by  that  rule ;  yet  they  do  not  invite  many 
persons  whom  their  brethren,  who  profess 
to  be  governed  by  the  same,  are  accustomed 
to  ask.  How  does  it  happen,  that  while 
they  and  their  brethren  both  hold  by  the 
same  rule,  they  differ  so  widely  in  their 
practice  ?  Here  we  are  brought  face  to 
face  with  the  real  point  at  issue  between  the 


64 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


Baptists  and  their  brethren — Who  have  been 
received  into  his  churches  in  the  way  that 
the  Lord  has  prescribed  ?  This  is  the  ques- 
tion around  which  all  the  conflict  should 
gather.  Their  brethren  often  make  side  issues, 
but  this  is  the  point  to  which  all  inquiry- 
should  tend.  Upon  the  answer  which  is 
given  to  this  question,  the  character  of  the 
churches  of  Christ  depends.  Are  they  to 
be  composed,  according  to  the  will  of  the 
Lord,  of  believers  alone,  or  are  unbelievers, 
also,  to  have  part  and  portion  therein? 
They  do  the  Baptists  great  injustice,  who  re- 
present the  points  for  which  they  plead  as 
trifling  non-essentials.  Few  questions  of 
deeper  interest,  and  of  more  far-reaching 
importance,  can  be  agitated  by  the  disciples 
of  Christ.  Was  it  the  design  of  the  Lord 
that  his  churches  should  be  kept  as  spiritual 
bodies,  or  did  he  contemplate  the  admission 
thereto  of  those  who  never  professed  to  be- 
lieve with  all  their  heart  in  him  ?     When 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  65 


their  brethren  come  to  a  full  agreement  with 
the  Baptists  on  this  momentous  point,  then 
they  will  also  agree  as  to  the  proper  persons 
to  come  to  the  Communion  table.  Then  this 
long  controversy  will  end,  and  we  shall  have 
a  real  union — a  union  in  the  truth. 

In  our  preceding  remarks  we  have  gone 
on,  step  by  step,  from  principle  to  principle, 
and  these  are  the  conclusions  to  which  we 
have  arrived. 

The  disciple  of  Christ  is  commanded, 
when  he  comes  to  exercise  faith  in  the  Son 
of  God,  to  be  baptized  in  his  holy  name. 
It  is  an  act  that  is  to  follow,  not  to  precede 
his  faith. 

To  be  baptized,  according  to  the  meaning 
of  the  Lord,  is  to  be  immersed  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

Those  only  who  have  made  a  credible 
profession  of  their  faith  in  the  Son  of  God, 
and  have  been  immersed  upon  that  profes- 


A    PLEA    FOE    PKINCIPLES. 


sion,  in  his  holy  name,  have  been  received 
into  his  chnrches  in  the  way  that  he  has  pre- 
scribed. 

In  the  principles  that  they  have  adopted, 
the  Baptists  have  the  sanction  of  the  highest 
authorities  in  the  world.  They  have  not 
been  led  to  their  adoption  by  any  unfriendly 
feeling  toward  their  brethren.  They  have 
labored  to  divest  themselves  of  all  feeling 
except  a  desire  to  know  the  mind  and  will 
of  their  Lord.  They  claim,  it  is  true,  the 
exercise  of  their  own  reason  and  judgment 
in  the  adoption  of  principles,  and  in  their 
application,  in  order  to  deduce  their  prac- 
tice. But  in  this  they  do  not  differ  from 
their  brethren.  The  right  and  duty  of  all 
men  to  search  for  principles,  and  to  apply 
their  principles  when  found  for  the  shaping 
of  their  practice,  is  a  truth  which  they  have 
labored,  and  suffered,  and  died  to  uphold. 

So  long  as  they  believe  their  principles  to 
be  true,  and  their  own  application  of  them 


A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  67 


legitimate,  they  cannot  consistently  vary 
their  practice.  It  surely  should  not  grieve 
their  brethren  that  they  abide  with  strictness 
by  their  principles.  It  cannot  be  the  part 
of  christian  kindness  to  ask  another  to  for- 
sake a  course  which  principle  enjoins,  or  to 
adopt  a  practice  which  principle  forbids. 
Their  brethren  would  have  just  grounds  for 
censuring  the  Baptists  were  they  to  go  be- 
yond the  teaching  of  the  Lord,  and  invite 
to  the  Communion  table  those  who  lack  the 
qualifications  that  he  has  prescribed. 

The  ties  of  kindred  and  friendship  are 
dear  and  sacred,  and  within  their  own  ap- 
propriate limits  may  justly  be  allowed  to 
control  our  actions.  But  the  tie  by  which 
the  disciple  is  bound  to  kindred  and  friend, 
must  always  be  held  as  subordinate  to  that 
which  binds  him  to  his  Lord.  He  need  not 
cease  to  love  his  relatives  and  friends  when 
he  becomes  a  follower  of  Christ.  He  will 
rather  love  them  with  a  truer,  deeper  love. 


68  A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


But  a  higher  love  must  always  be  given  to 
Christ,  if  he  would  not  place  himself  among 
the  number  of  those  whom  the  Saviour  has 
declared  to  be  unworthy  of  him.  If  then 
the  Baptists  do  not  invite  all  of  their  chris- 
tian relatives  and  friends  to  the  Communion 
table,  it  is  not  that  they  love  them  less,  but 
that  they  love  the  Saviour  more.  The}" 
would  raise  no  barrier  in  the  way  which. he 
has  not  erected ;  nor  would  they  dare  to 
throw  down  a  barrier  which  he  has  raised. 
They  are  accustomed  to  invite  all  who  have 
repented  of  sin,  have  believed  in  Christ, 
have  been  baptized  in  accordance  with  his 
command,  and  are  living  consistent  christian 
lives.  Do  the  sacred  Scriptures  warrant  a 
wider  invitation  ?  Do  their  brethren  them- 
selves give  one  that  is  more  full  and  com- 
prehensive ? 

But  do  not  the  Baptists  deny  to  their 
brethren,  if  not  in  words,  at  least  in  fact,  the 
name  of  Christians?     By  no  means.     They 


PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES.  69 


esteem  them  very  highly  as  believers  in  Jesus 
Christ.  They  rejoice  in  all  their  christian 
graced,  and  all  their  christian  usefulness. 
But  it  would  scarcely  be  consistent  for  them, 
because  of  the  christian  graces  or  christian 
usefulness  of  their  brethren,  to  alter  or  mo- 
dify the  teachings  of  their  Lord.  It  is  those 
who  believe  and  are  baptized  whom  the  Lord 
invites.  There  must  be  both  the  inward 
character  and  the  outward  act.  Their  breth- 
ren, themselves,  require  not  only  the  evi- 
dence of  Christian  character,  but  also  what 
they  can  accept  as  the  external  act  of 
baptism.  Both,  in  their  esteem,  are  necessary. 
The  Baptists  ask  no  more.  They  would  fain 
hope,  therefore,  to  secure  from  their  brethren 
lull  confidence  in  their  professions  of  chris- 
tian regard,  even  though  they  cannot  invite 
those,  whom  they  regret  to  look  upon  as  un- 
baptized,  to  the  Lord's  table. 

Such,  in  brief,  are  the   principles   which 


70  A    PLEA    FOE    PRINCIPLES. 


dictate,  from  first  to  last,  the  practice  of  the 
Baptists.  If  their  brethren  deem  the  princi- 
ples which  they  hold  to  be  erroneous,  or  think 
that  any  of  their  principles  are  misapplied, 
it  is  competent  for  those  who  have  wisdom 
and  learning  to  point  out  wherein  their  error 
lies.  To  point  out  any  error  which  they 
have  held,  will  be  the  most  effectual  means 
of  leading  them  to  seek  for  other  and  better 
principles,  or  for  a  better  mode  of  applying 
those  that  they  hold.  It  has  been  their  aim, 
as  a  denomination,  to  seek  out  carefully,  and 
to  maintain  with  unshaken  firmness,  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus.  They  would  gladly  accept 
of  the  aid  which  their  brethren  may  be  able 
to  give  them,  in  finding  that  which  they 
have  not  yet  discovered.  They  long  and 
pray  for  the  triumph  of  correct  principles, 
and  their  supreme  sway  in  all  that  pertains 
to  religious  truth  and  scriptural  practice. 
Men  pass  away,  but  principles  live.  Cor- 
rect principles  are  the  safeguard  of  the  cause 


A    PLEA    FOR   PRINCIPLES.  71 


of   Christ,    and   ever  tend  to  the  glory  of 
God. 

In  defense  of  their  principles,  the  Baptists 
have  had  many  trials  to  bear.  Burnings 
and  banishment,  fines  and  imprisonment, 
scourgings  and  mockery,  have  all"  been 
among  the  familiar  incidents  of  their  lot. 
Their  firm  adherence  to  their  principles  in 
the  midst  of  such  trials  of  faith  and  pa- 
tience, are  matters  of  history.  They  have 
had  ample  opportunity  to  learn  patience  by 
the  things  which  they  have  suffered.  Nor 
have  they  altogether  failed  to  profit  by  the 
stern  discipline  to  which  they  have  been 
subjected.  The  work  which  they  have  per- 
formed as  pioneers  in  the  cause  of  religious 
freedom,  and  religious  effort,  bears  ample 
testimony  to  this.  Yet  they,  would  not  ask 
that  this  same  stern  discipline  may  be  pro- 
longed. They  long  for  the  coming  of  that 
day  when  they  may  serve  God  in  peace  and 
quietness,  according  to  the  teachings  of  his 


72  A    PLEA    FOR    PRINCIPLES. 


own  sacred  word.  They  hope  that  the  day 
may  soon  come  when,  throughout  the  whole 
world,  as  well  as  in  our  own  land,  the  hand 
of  persecution  may  be  stayed.  They  would 
also  hope  that,  in  our  own  country,  while 
their  brethren  meet  them  with  arguments, 
as  hard  as  the  overthrow  of  their  errors  may 
demand,  they  may  be  exposed  no  longer  to 
the  reproaches  and  odium  which  they  think 
their  honest  effort  in  all  things  to  follow  the 
laws  of  their  Lord  has  little  merited. 


THE   END. 


THE  ANCIENT  LANDMARKS 


OR, 


BELIEF  AXD  BAPTISM 


BEFORE    COMMUNION. 


Bi  Rev.  W.  T.  BRANTLY,  P.D. 

PASTOR    OF    THE    TABERXACLE    BAPTIST    CHURCH 
PHILADELPHIA  . 


^Ijilnfolfiljia : 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    PUBLICATION    SOCIETY, 

530  AliCH   STREET. 


The  following  pages  were  adopted  as  the 
Circular  Letter  of  the  151st  Anniversary 
of  the  Philadelphia  Baptist  Association,  and 
recommended  by  the  Association  to  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society  for 
publication. 


BELIEF    AND    BAPTISM 
BEFORE   COMMUNION. 


We  propose  to  submit,  for  your  considera- 
tion at  the  present  time,  a  few  reasons  why 
our  churches  should  adhere  to  the  practice  of  in- 
viting to  the  Table  of  the  Lord  only  those  persons 
whom  they  believe  to  be  the  baptized  and  orderly 
followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

At  a  time  when,  in  consequence  of  our 
views  on  this  subject,  we  are  constantly 
assailed  with  the  charges  of  exclusivism  and 
illiberality  by  Christian  brethren  with  whom 
we  love  to  co-operate  in  prayer  and  other 
efforts  intended  to  advance  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ,  it  is  proper  for  us  to  review  tha 
reasons  for  our  practice.  If  these  be  found 
sufficient  let  us  maintain  with  renewed  zeal 

(3) 


4  BELIEF   AND   BAPTISM 

the  rules  by  which  we  have  heretofore  been 
governed.  Bat  if  we  have  been  defending  a 
position  which  a  maturer  and  more  search- 
ing investigation  discovers  to  be  untenable, 
let  us  as  honest  people  abandon  it,  and  re- 
lieve ourselves  from  the  imputations  under 
which  we  have  so  long  labored. 

I.  Our  first  reason  for  restricting  these  in- 
vitations to  the  persons  whom  we  have  desig- 
nated is,  that  the  practice  accords  with  the  law 
and  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  ScrijJtures:  We 
mention  this  as  our  first  reason,  because  we 
hold  it  to  be  the  foundation  on  which  all 
arguments,  entitled  to  our  respect  on  this 
subject,  must  be  built.  Whatever  may  be 
urged  in  favor  of  the  practice  by  other  con- 
siderations, we  should  not  insist  upon  its 
retention  unless  it  be  enforced  by  the  com- 
mand of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  practice  of  the 
Apostles.  It  especially  becomes  us,  dear 
brethren,  who  profess  to  discard  all  merely 
human  traditions  and  superstitions,  to  in- 
quire, when  seeking  the  truth  on  this  subject, 


BEFORE    COMMUNION.  5 

What  is  taught  in  the  Sacred  Oracles  ?  and  to 
cleave  only  unto  that  doctrine  which  has 
been  delivered  by  "holy  men  of  old,  speak- 
as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 

1.  Let  us  begin  our  inquiries  on  this  head 
with  the  institution  of  the  ordinance.  It  can 
be  shown,  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt,  that 
all  the  persons  who  participated  on  this  oc- 
casion had  been  previously  baptized.  The 
administrator  certainly  had  submitted  to  the 
ordinance.  There  is  not  the  like  mention 
of  the  baptism  of  each  of  the  apostles.  It 
would  be  unreasonable  to  expect  records 
which  would  embrace  those  particulars  of 
their  history  which,  from  the  circumstances 
of  the  case,  may  be  very  properly  taken  for 
granted.  "We  believe  that  they  were  baptized : 

(1.)  Because  a  rite  which  their  leader 
deemed  so  important,  that  he  submitted  to  it 
in  his  own  person,  could  not  have  been  neg- 
lected by  any  of  those  whom  he  recognized 
as  his  followers. 

(2.)  Because  those  who  baptized  many  of 
1* 


6  BELIEF   AND   BAPTISM 

the  converts  of  the  Lord,  must  themselves 
have  been  baptized, 

(3.)  Our  Lord  would  not,  after  his  ascen- 
sion, send  forth  men  to  "baptize  all  nations" 
who  were  living  in  the  neglect  of  that  which 
he  enjoins  on  others. 

(4.)  As  some  '  of  the  apostles  had  been 
baptized  by  John,  and  as  the  disciples  made 
by  the  personal  ministry  of  the  Saviour  were 
baptized,  all  of  his  apostles  must  have  been 
baptized. 

(5.)  When  an  apostle  was  to  be  elected  in 
the  place  of  Judas,  one  of  the  qualifications 
of  the  candidate  for  the  vacancy  was  (we  may 
justly  conclude),  that  he  had  been  baptized; 
and  reference  is  made  to  this  qualification  in 
such  terms  as  to  carry  with  it  the  strong  im- 
plication that  they  had  all  been  baptized. 
11  Wherefore  of  these  men  which  have  com- 
panied  with  us  all  the  time  that  the  Lord 
Jesus  went  in  and  out  among  us,  beginning 
from  the  baptism  of  John,  .  .  .  must  one  be 
ordained,"  &c.     Acts  i.  21,  22. 


BEFORE   COMMUNION.  7 

(6.)  If  a  requisition  was  laid  upon  the  con- 
verted Saul  to  be  baptized  before  .he  could' 
enter  upon  his  work,  a  similar  requisition 
must  have  been  laid  upon  the  other  apostles. 

(7.)  When  our  Lord  was  preparing  to  re- 
ceive baptism  from  John,  he  said  :  "  Thus  it 
becometh  us  to  fulfill  all  righteousness."  "We 
cannot  suppose  that  he  would  have  chosen, 
as  the  depositaries  of  a  most  important  trust, 
those  who  were  willfully  neglecting  their 
duty  with  regard  to  this  righteousness. 

Can  there  be,  then,  a  reasonable  doubt, 
that  the  first  Supper  was  celebrated  by  a 
baptized  company  ?  Whether  you  choose 
to  call  it  John's  baptism,  or  Christian  bap- 
tism, it  is  the  baptism  which  God  appointed ; 
and  all  present  on  this  memorable  occasion 
had  submitted  to  the  divine  command. 

2.  The  terms  of  the  Great  Commission 
show  that  baptism  precedes  the  Supper. 
This  is  the  law  by  which  we  are  to  be  gov- 
erned on  this  subject.  (See  Matt,  xxviii.  19;  20 ; 
Mark  xvi.  15,  16.)     By  this  charter  we  are 


8  BELIEF   AND   BAPTISM 

directed,  1.  To  make  a  proclamation  of  the 
-Gospel ;  2.  To  administer  baptism  to  be- 
lievers ;  and  3.  To  instruct  the  baptized  .in 
their  duty  to  Christ.  If  we  suppose,  as  we 
have  sufficient  reason  for  doing,  that  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  one  of  the  things  to  be 
taught  the  baptized  converts,  then  we  find 
the  Commission  clearly  establishing  baptism 
as  a  prerequisite  to  the  Lord's  table.  It  will 
not  do  to  say  that  the  Commission  prescribes 
no  particular  order  in  which  we  are  to  pro- 
ceed. This  argument  would  prove  too  much. 
For  if  we  are  at  liberty  to  make  a  transposi- 
tion and  to  teach  men  to  observe  the  Supper 
before  they  had  been  baptized,  we  might  by 
the  same  liberty  transpose  a  little  farther,  and 
administer  baptism  before  there  had  been  a 
profession  of  faith.  But  as  no  one  among  us 
will,  we  presume,  deny  that  faith  is  an  indis- 
pensable preliminary  to  baptism,  so  no  one 
ought  to  dispense  with  baptism  as  a  pre- 
requisite to  the  table  of  the  Lord.  The 
order    of  the  Commission,  reported  in  the 


BEFORE    COMMUNION.  0 

same  way  by  both  the  Evangelists,  is  not  a 
matter  of  accident,  but  of  design,  and  should 
be  conscientiously  observed  by  all  who  love 
the  great  Lawgiver.  We  most  cordially 
concur  in  the  views  of  Baxter,  that  "The 
paramount  law  of  the  great  Institutor,  the 
Commission,  is  not  like  some  occasional  his- 
torical mention  of  baptism,  but  is  the  very 
command  of  Christ,  and  purposely  express- 
ed their  several  works  in  their  several 
places  and  order.  Their  first  task  is,  by 
teaching,  to  make  disciples,  which  Mark 
calls  believers.  The  second  work  is  to  bap- 
tize them.  The  third  work  is  to  teach  them 
all  other  things  which  are  afterward  to  be 
learned  in  the  school  of  Christ.  To  contemn 
this  order  is  to  renounce  all  rules  of  order ;  for 
where  can  we  expect  to  find  it,  if  not  here  ?"* 

3.  The  practice  of  the  apostles  shows 
that  they  understood  baptism  to  be  the  first 
duty  of  every  believer,  and  therefore  antece- 
dent  to   the   Supper.     Any  one    who   will 

*  Quoted  in  "  Howell  on  Communion,"  p.  49. 


10  BELIEF  AND   BAPTISM 

read  the  Commission,  and  observe  the  action 
of  the  apostles  under  this  law,  must  be 
struck  with  their  constant  adherence  to  the 
order  which  their  Divine  Master  enjoined. 
On  the  day  of  Pentecost,  "  when  they  heard 
this  (i.  e.,  Peter's  discourse),  they  were  pricked 
in  their  hearts,  and  said  unto  Peter,  and  to 
the  rest  of  the  apostles,  Men  and  brethren, 
what  shall  we  do  ?  Then  Peter  said  unto 
them,  Repent  and  be  baptized  every  one  of 
you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  .  .  . 
Then  they  that  gladly  received  his  word 
were  baptized.  And  they  continued  stead- 
fastly in  the  apostle's  doctrine  and  fellow- 
ship, and  in  breaking  of  bread  and  in 
prayers."  Here  then  we  have,  1.  The  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel;  2.  The  belief  of  the 
hearers ;  3.  Their  baptism ;  4.  Their  partici- 
pation of  the  Lord's  Supper ;  being  one  of 
those  things  which  they  were  taught  after 
their  compliance  with  the  preliminaries  of 
faith  and  baptism.  All  this  is  in  exact  con- 
formity with  the  terms  and  the  order  of  the 


BEFORE   COMMUNION.  11 

Commission  which  Peter  had  received  from 
his  divine  Master.  Again,  "Philip  . 
preached  unto  him  Jesus.  .  .  And  the 
Eunuch  said,  See,  here  is  water,  what  doth 
hinder  me  to  be  baptized?  And  Philip  said. 
If  thou  believest  with  all  thy  heart  thou 
may  est.  And  he  answered  and  said,  I  be- 
lieve that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God.  .  . 
And  he  baptized  him."  Here  again  we  have 
the  same  order  rigidly  observed.  Philip 
first  preaches  Jesus  to  his  hearer.  The 
latter  then  expresses  his  belief.  Next  he  is 
baptized.  Was  the  practice  of  Philip  an  un- 
designed coincidence  with  that  of  Peter,  or 
did  it  spring  from  the  same  interpretation 
of  the  Commission  ?  Who  can  doubt  that 
they  understood  the  order  to  be  authoritative  ? 
When  Ananias  addressed  the  converted 
Saul,  he  did  not  first  direct  him  to  com- 
memorate the  sufferings  and  death  of  his 
Lord ;  there  was  a  duty  which  took  prece- 
dence of  this  requisition.  He  must  be 
buried  in  the  same  watery  grave  in  which 


12  BELIEF   AND   BAPTISM 

his  Saviour  had  been  laid.  He  had  already 
heard  and  believed  the  Gospel.  In  those 
memorable  words  which  entered  his  soul,  u  I 
am  Jesus  whom  thou  persecutest,"  Saul  had. 
heard  a  sermon  from  the  skies.  When  his 
belief  followed  this  preaching,  there  came 
the  command:  "And  now,  why  tarriest 
thou?  Arise  and  be  baptized,  and  wash 
away  thy  sins,  calling  on  the  name  of  the 
Lord."  Having  been  baptized,  the  same 
Jesus  who  had  preached  the  sermon  under 
which  he  was  converted,  teaches  him,  among 
the  many  things  which  he  learned,  that  he 
must  celebrate  his  sufferings  and  death. 
And  when  he  writes  to  the  Corinthians,  en- 
joining this  duty  upon  them  after  they  had 
been  baptized,  he  can  speak  with  effect, 
when  he  says :  "  I  have  received  of  the  Lord 
that  which  also  I  delivered  unto  you,  that 
the  Lord  Jesus,  the  same  night  on  which  he 
was  betrayed,  took  bread,"  &c.  Here  we  see 
the  Son  of  God  co-operating  with  his  apos- 
tles in  carrying  out  his   own  commission  in 


BEFORE   COMMUNION.  13 

the  order  in  which  he  delivered  it.  Paul 
hears,  believes,  is  baptized,  and  learLS  that 
he  is  then  to  "show  in  the  Supper,"  the 
"  Lord's  death,  till  he  comes,"  and  so  teaches 
the  churches. 

And  when  this  Saul,  afterward  a  minister 
of  the  Cross,  hears  from  the  jailer  the  anx- 
ious cry — "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?" 
he  first  directs  him  to  believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  As  the  next  step  he  does  not 
receive  the  Supper,  though  this  would  have 
been  much  more  convenient,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  some  of  our  friends,  than  what  was 
required,  but  he  is  baptized ;  and  one  act  of 
obedience  in  this  case  follows  another  so 
rapidly,  that  we  see  the  close  proximity  in 
which  Paul  placed  belief  and  baptism. 

But  perhaps  some  may  say:  Granted 
that  the  apostles  invariably  administered 
baptism  before  communion,  their  example 
in  this  particular,  is  not  binding  upon  us. 
We  answer:  When  the  apostles  acted 
officially,  they  acted  under  divine  direction, 


1-1  BELIEF   AND   BAPTISM 

and  their  conduct  and  teaching,  when  so 
acting,  are  invested  for  us  with  all  the  au- 
thority of  law.  It  is,  in  fact,  Jesus  speak- 
ing to  us  through  his  servants,  and  illus- 
trating by-  their  teaching  and  practice  his 
own  requisitions.  Why  do  we  feel  eafe  in 
saying  to  every  inquirer  after  life,  "Believe 
on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved"  ?  Because  an  inspired  apostle  once 
gave  this  direction  to  an  inquirer.  Why 
do  we  resist  the  doctrine  of  celibacy,  as  held 
by  the  Eomish  church  ?  Because  an  apos- 
tle has  pronounced  marriage  to  be  "  honor- 
able in  all."  Why  would  we  feel  no  hesi- 
tation in  excommunicating  a  person  charged 
with  the  offence  for  which  the  apostle  re- 
commended excision  to  the  Corinthian 
church?  Because  we  hold  his  directions 
to  them  to  be  inspired,  and  therefore  incum- 
bent on  us.  No  one  questions  that  the  in- 
structions of  the  apostles  on  these  subjects 
are  rules  by  which  we  must  be  governed ; 
and  when  we  find  these  apostles  uniformly 


BEFOKE    COMMUNION.  15 

insisting  on  baptism  before  believers  are  in- 
vited to  approach  the  table  of  theii  Lord, 
we  should  hold  this  rule  to  be  as  obligatory 
upon  us  as  though  we  had  an  express  com- 
mand, in  every  instance,  from  our  great 
Lawgiver. 

•i.  The  incidental  references  to  baptism 
in  the  Epistles  confirm  what  we  are  taught 
by  apostolic  practice,  viz.:  That  the  first 
visible  act  of  homage  which  believers  paid 
to  Christ  was  baptism.  Writing  to  the  Cor- 
inthians, Paul  addressed  them  in  these  terms: 
"Were  ye  baptized  in  the  name  of  Paul? 
I  thank  God  that  I  baptized  none  of  you 
but  Crispus  and  Gaius.  And  I  baptized 
also  the  household  of  Stephanas :  besides  I 
know  not  whether  I  baptized  any  other."' 
The  question  in  this  passage  assumes  that 
every  one  connected  with  the  Corinthian 
church  had  been  baptized.  Paul  does  not 
ask,  "  Have  you  been  baptized  ?"  but  taking 
this  as  granted,  he  inquires  whether  they 
had   been   baptized  in  his  name.     Next,  he 


16  BELIEF   AND   BAPTISM 

mentions  several  persons  whom  he  had  bap- 
tized, and  though  he  is  not  advised  of  the 
baptism  of  other  members,  his  language  im- 
plies that  they  had  all  submitted  to  this  or- 
dinance. Who,  in  reading  this  Scripture, 
can  resist  the  conclusion  that  the  church  of 
Corinth  was  composed  of  believers  who  had 
been  baptized  in  the  name  of  Christ  ?  Now 
it  was  to  those  who  had  paid  the  act  of 
homage  which  baptism  implies,  that  the 
apostle  delivered  the  command  of  his  Lord 
respecting  the  Supper,  "This  do  in  re- 
membrance of  me." 

In  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  we  find  this 
language:  "For  as  many  of  you  as  have 
been  baptized  into  Christ,  have  put  on 
Christ."  All  the  members  of  the  church  in 
Galatia  must  have  put  on  Christ.  They 
must  therefore  have  all  been  baptized.  But 
when  did  this  symbolical  putting  on  of 
Christ  occur  ?  Was  it  before  or  after  they 
partook  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ?  If  after  they 
had  received   the  Supper,  why  is  the  faut 


BEFORE   COMMUNION.  17 

ignored?  Why  is  the  apostle  so  careful  to 
mention  the  second  rite  whilst  he  omits  the 
initiatory  ordinance  of  the  Supper?  As 
baptism  was  the  putting  on  of  Christ,  surely 
we  may  conclude  that  the  symbol  was  indi- 
cated so  soon  as  the  faith  symbolized  existed 
in  the  heart.  The  putting  on  of  Christ  was 
the  act  by  which  they  proclaimed  their  alle- 
giance to  the  Son  of  God.  This  of  course 
would  very  naturally  and  properly  take 
precedence  of  all  those  acts  which  are  pre- 
scribed for  those  who  have  taken  the  oath 
of  allegiance. 

The  interpretation  which  we  have  now 
given  of  the  Commission,  and  of  the  practice 
of  the  apostles,  is  accepted  by  the  Christian 
world  at  large.  Though  some  now  deny 
that  baptism  is  a  prerequisite  to  communion, 
there  has  heretofore  been  very  great  una- 
nimity among  our  Pedobaptist  brethren  on 
this  subject.  Those  who  deem  us  so  exclu- 
sive,  recognize,    in   the    standards    of   their 

churches   and  in   the    opinions  of  their  ac- 
2* 


18  BELIEF    AND   BAPTISM 

credited  expositors,  the  necessity  of  baptism 
before  communion.  "  In  the  very  depths  of 
the  Romish  apostasy,"  says  Mr.  Booth,  "  and 
since  the  Reformation,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  the  general  practice  has  been  to 
receive  none  but  baptized  persons  to  com- 
munion at  the  Lord's  table."  Says  Dr.  Wall, 
(History  of  Infant  Bap.,  Part  2,  Chap.  9), 
"No  church  ever  gave  the  communion  to 
any  persons  before  they  were  baptized. 
Among  all  the  absurdities  that  ever  were 
held,  none  ever  maintained  that  any  persons 
should  partake  of  the  communion  before 
they  were  baptized." 

In  the -Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  we  have  these  words:  "Let 
none  be  received  into  the  church  until  they 
are  recommended  by  a  leader  with  whom 
they  have  met  at  least  six  months  on  trial, 
and  have  been  baptized."  In  the  Order  of 
Confirmation  in  the  Episcopal  Prayer-book, 
baptism  is  a  prerequisite  to  confirmation,  and 
confirmation  is  a  prerequisite  to  the  Supper. 


BEFORE    COMMUNION.  19 

According  to  the  Presbyterian  Confession 
of  Faith:  "Baptism  is  a  Sacrament  of  the 
New  Testament,  ordained  by  Jesus  Christ, 
for  the  solemn  admission  of  the  party  bap- 
tized into  the  visible  church."  The  Lord's 
Supper  is  an  ordinance  "in  the  church"; 
hence,  an  ordinance  for  those  whom  Presby- 
terians believe  to  be  baptized.-  It  would  be 
easy  to  quote  from  standards  and  individuals 
in  corroboration  of  the  view  which  is  now 
presented.  The  limits  prescribed  for  this 
paper  forbid.  We  submit,  in  addition,  only 
the  testimony  of  Dr.  Griffin,  a  learned  and 
eminently  useful  minister  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church.  "I  agree  with  the  advocates 
for  close  communion  on  two  points:  1.  That 
baptism  is  an  initiating  ordinance,  which  in- 
troduces into  the  visible  church.  Of  course, 
where  there  is  no  baptism,  there  are  no  visi- 
ble churches.  2.  That  we  ought  not  to  com- 
mune with  those  who  are  not  baptized,  and 
of  course  are  not  church  members,  even  if 
we  regard    them  as  Christians.      Should  a 


20  BELIEF   AND    BAPTISM 

pious  Quaker  so  far  depart  from  his  princi- 
ples as  to  wish,  to  commune  with  me  at  the 
Lord's  table,  while  he  yet  refused  to  be  bap- 
tized, I  could  not  receive  him ;  because  there 
is  such  a  relation  established  between  the 
two  ordinances  that  I  have  no  right  to  sepa- 
rate them ;  in  other  words,  I  have  no  right 
to  send  the  -sacred  elements  out  of  the 
church." 

Thus,  from  the  "  law  and  the  testimony"  as 
understood  both  by  ourselves  and  by  Pedo- 
baptist  commentators,  submission .  to  the 
ordinance  of  baptism  is  an  indispensable 
preliminary  to  an  orderly  participation  of 
the  Lord's  Supper.  If  this  point  be  made 
out,  (and  we  humbly  conceive  that  it  is  es 
tablished  beyond  successful  assault),  it  is  not 
really  necessary  for  us  to  add  any  thing 
more.  Having  a  "  thus  saith  the  Lord"  for 
our  practice,  we  may  submit  quietly  to 
whatever  of  opprobrium  it  may  involve. 
Though  it  cuts  us  off  from  a  sacramental 
fellowship  with  multitudes  whom  we  believe 


BEFORE    COMMUNION'.  21 

to  be  the  children  of  God,  and  whose  zeal  in 
the  service  of  our  common  Lord  awakens 
our  constant  admiration  and  gratitude,  and 
though  it  constrains  us  to  dwell  in  a  painful 
isolation,  making  us  the  "  sect  which  is 
everywhere  spoken  against,"  yet  we  must 
adhere  to  that  rule  which  we  honestly  be- 
lieve to  have  been  prescribed  by  our  Lord 
and  his  apostles.  "Let  it  be  admitted," 
says  the  gifted  Hall,  "  that  baptism  is,  under 
all  circumstances,  a  necessary  condition  of 
church-fellowship,  and  it  is  impossible  for 
the  Baptists  to  act  otherwise.  The  recol- 
lection of  .this  may  suffice  to  rebut  the  ridi- 
cule and  silence  the  clamor  of  those  who 
loudly  condemn  the  Baptists  for  a  proceed- 
ing which,  were  they  but. to  change  their 
opinion  on  the  subject  of  baptism,  their  own 
principles  would  compel  them  to  adopt. 
They  both  concur  in  a  common  principle, 
from  which  the  practice  deemed  so  offensive 
is  the  necessary  result."  The  hypothesis 
of  this  writer  is,  we  humbly  conceive,  estab- 


22  BELIEF   AND    BAPTISM 

lished.  "  Baptism  is,  under  all  circumstan- 
ces, a  necessary  condition  of  church-fellow- 
ship." It  is  therefore  impossible  for  Baptists 
to  invite  to  the  Lord's  Supper  those  who  have 
not  complied  with  the  Lord's  preliminary. 

II.  The  next  reason  which  we  offer  for 
adhering  to  our  practice  on  the  subject  in 
question,  is  because,  in  so  doing,  we  bear  our 
testimony  against  those  who  depart  from  the 
scriptural  law  of  baptism,  both  a3  to  its 
mode  and  subjects.  Holding  baptism  to  be 
a  prerequisite  to  the  Supper,  it  is  plain  that, 
if  we  invite  those  who  have  not  been  im- 
mersed on  a  profession  of  their  faith  to  par- 
take, we  recognize  something  else  besides 
immersion  to  be  baptism.  Most  of  the  mem- 
bers of  Pedobaptist  churches  have  not,  in 
our  view,  been  baptized;  many  others  have 
not  received  even  that  which  they  hold  to  be 
baptism,  on  a  profession  of  their  faith — the 
rite  having  been  administered  at  an  age  so 
tender  that  it  made  no  impression  on  their 
minds.     To  invite  such  persons  to  the  Lord's 


BEFORE    COMMUNION.  23 

table,  would  be  in  effect,  to  say,  We  believe 
that  you  have  complied  with  the  terms  of  the 
Commission  and  with  the  practice  of  the 
apostles— an  assertion  which  no  Baptist 
could  conscientiously  make.  In  withholding 
our  invitation,  we  express  the  convictions 
that  their  custom  of  adopting  infants  into  the 
church,  by  what  is  termed  baptism,  is  with- 
out a  warrant  in  the  Word  of  God ;  and  that 
their  refusal  to  submit  to  the  baptism  which 
Christ  appointed,  disqualifies  them  for  a 
scriptural  participation  of  the  Snpper. 

If  our  Pedobaptist  brethren  should  say, 
this  surely  is  magnifying  the  rite  of  baptism 
into  very  great  consequence  ;  can  the  ques- 
tion of  the  application  of  water  in  a  particu- 
lar wav,  whether  before  or  after  believing, 
be  a  matter  of  so  much  moment  as  to  pro- 
duce a  separation  at  the  communion  table,  of 
those  who  are  the  regenerated  friends  of 
Jesus  ?  We  answer,  that  we  make  no  more 
of  this  ordinance  than  did  our  Divine  Ex- 
emplar— we  dare  not  make  any  thing  less. 


24  BELIEF   AND    BAPTISM 

If  he  deemed  it  so  important  as  to  submit  to 
it,  in  his  own  person,  and  that  in  a  particular 
way,  arid  when  he  was  in  the  full  maturity 
of  his  powers;  if  that  baptism  was  hallowed 
and  made  forever  memorable  by  the  first 
simultaneous  appearance  of  the  whole  God- 
head, the  Father,  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
to  men ;  if  the  Son  of  God  gave  this  ordi- 
nance so  conspicuous  and  well-defined  a 
place  in  his  valedictory  charge  to  his  apos- 
tles; and  if  these  apostles  invariably  enjoined 
baptism  on  those  who  believed;  and  if  the 
rite  be  so  important  that  they  deem  the  fact 
of  its  observance  worthy  of  especial  record 
in  so  jiisliij  instances;  it  is  not  easy  for  us  to 
magnify  it  into  an  undue  consequence,  so 
long  as  we  only  insist  upon  it  as  the  first 
duty  of  all  who  "  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  Nor  do  we  lay  a  greater  stress 
upon  this  ordinance  than  do  our  brethren 
who  differ  from  us  as  to  the  circum- 
stances. We  would  respectfully  ask,  What 
Pedobaptist  confession  of  faith  ignores  it? 


BEFORE    COMMUNION.  25 

We  have  seen  that  it  is  mentioned  in  the. 
standards  of  their  churches.  Which  one  of 
these  churches,  in  practice,  dispenses  with  it 
as  a  matter  of  too  trivial  a  nature  to  be  in- 
sisted upon?  The  truth  is,  that  in  their 
estimate  of  the  ordinance,  they  attach  to  it  a 
value  greater  than  that  which  we  accord. 
We  are  satisfied  if  it  be  administered  to  be- 
lievers— they  administer  that  which  they 
regard  as  baptism  to  'unbelievers — to  persons 
at  an  age  when  belief  is  an  utter  impossi- 
bility. 

If  our  brethren  with  whom  we  differ  •  on 
this  subject  should  say,  We  have  submitted 
conscientiously  to  what  we  believe  to  be 
baptism,  and  we  therefore  claim  our  place  at 
the  table;  we  answer,  That  it  is  Christ's 
table,  and  we  have  no  authority  to  invite 
there  any  other  persons  than  those  whom  we 
believe  to  have  complied  with  Christ's  con- 
ditions. We  rejoice,  dear  brethren,  in  the 
evidences  of  piety  which  you  exhibit ;  we 
love  to- hold  spiritualuommunion  with  those 


26  BELIEF    AND    BAPTISM 

.whose  lives  abound  in  so  many  good  works: 
bat  Christ  has  not  taught  us  how  we  may 
hold  sacramental  communion  with  those  who 
remain,  in  our  view,  unbaptized.  It  is  pain- 
ful to  us  not  to  meet  you  at  the  table;  we 
esteem  you  for  your  works  of  faith,  and 
labors  of  love,  but  we  love  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  more.  Loyalty  to  his  commands, 
devotion  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  com- 
pel us  to  withhold  our  invitations  to  the 
Supper.  By  this  act  we  say  to  you,  We 
believe,  in  the  matter  of  baptism,  you  include 
subjects  for  which  you  have  only  the  com- 
mandments of  men,  and  are  satisfied  with  an 
administration  which  the  Scriptures  do  not 
recognize. 

III.  Another  reason  for  our  position  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  we  thus  express  our 
dissent  from '  the  practice  of  those  churches 
who  do  not  insist  upon  repentance  and  faith 
as  a  condition  of  admission  to  the  table  of 
the  Lord.  That  multitudes  of  our  brethren 
who  have  not  complied  with  the  other  pre- 


BEFORE    COMMUNION.  27 

liminary  on  which  we  have  insisted,  possess, 
notwithstanding,  the  fundamental  requisites 
of  which  we  now  speak,  we  rejoice  to  be- 
lieve. But  at  the  same  time  there  are 
churches  in  which  satisfactory  evidences  of 
spiritual  regeneration  are  not  required  as 
terms  of  admission  to  the  Lord's  Supper. 
In  some  of  these  churches,  all  that  is  re- 
quired after  the  baptism  of  the  candidate  in 
infancy,  is  his  confirmation  by  the  proper 
officer.  This  rite  introduces  him  into  full 
communion.  Many  of  those  who  are  thus 
introduced  do  not  even  profess  to  be  con- 
verted. That  we  do  not  speak  harshly  on 
this  subject,  appears  from  the  testimony  of 
Archbishop  "Whately,  who  says:  "Confir- 
mation is  too  often  so  mistaken  and  per- 
verted, as  to  become  an  empty  and  unmean- 
ing form,  or  a  dangerous  snare."  ("  Charges 
and  other  Tracts,"  Lond.  1836,  p.  93.) 

Says  Dr.  Smyth,  an  eminent  minister  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  when  speaking  of 
this  prelatical   rite  of  confirmation,  ("  Conf. 


28  BELIEF    AND    BAPTISM 

Examined,"  p.  115),  "As  to  any  serious  be- 
lief in  the  necessity  of  regeneration  as  a  pre- 
requisite qualification,  they  dream  not  of  it. 
They  have  been  taught,  as  Bishop  Mant 
words  it,  to  '  believe  in  baptismal  regenera- 
tion, and  that  there  is  no  other  regeneration,' 
and  they  now  therefore  confirm  their  belief 
that  there  is  no  other,  by  becoming  communi- 
cants while  impenitent  and  unconverted." 

So,  again,  it  is  well  known  that  there 
are  other  churches  in  which  persons  are  in- 
vited to  the  Lord's  Supper,  that  they  may 
be  converted  by  the  ordinance.  In  the 
terms  which  they  prescribe  for  admission  to 
the  Supper,  though  baptism  may  be  speci- 
fied, there  is  no  distinct  intimation  that  the 
candidate  must  have  experienced  the  renew- 
ing power  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

To  invite  such  persons  to  the  communion- 
table, with  our  principles,  is  to  say  to  them, 
"  We  believe  that  you  have  been  converted  ■ 
when  thanks  were  returned  for  your  regener- 
ation   in    bapt:sm,  we   believe   you   passed 


BEFORE   COMMUNION.  29 

from  death  unto  life :  in  connecting  yourself 
with  a  Christian  church,  you  became  a 
Christian."  We  are  Dot  prepared  to  en- 
courage their  error ;  we  are  not  prepared  to 
sanction  a  violation  of  that  law  which,  (as  we 
have  seen),  requires  belief  and  baptism  to  be 
antecedent  to  communion  ;  and  as  Ave  spread 
the  table,  we  must  throw  around  it  the  fence 
which  the  Lord  Jesus  has  constructed,  and 
sav  :  u  This  is  for  baptized  believers  in  his 
holy  name.'" 

IV.  The  last  reason  which  we  assign  for 
adhering  to  our  practice  is,  that  by  such  a 
course  we  advance  most  effectively,  under 
the  Divine  blessing,  those  great  principles 
for  which  we  contend.  If  we  believe  our 
practice  with  regard  to  church  communion 
to  be  scriptural,  we  should  be  obliged  to 
rm  to  it,  whether  our  views  be  acknowl- 
edged by  multitudes,  or  by  a  very  limited 
number  of  adherents.  But  when  the  policy 
vie  adopt   is  obviously  the   most  favorable 

tor  the  dissemination  of  those  doctrines  which 
■6* 


30  BELIEF   AND   BAPTISM 

are  taught  in  the  Word  of  God,  this  surely 
supplies  an  additional  reason  why  it  should 
he  faithfully  observed.  It  has  often  been 
said  that,  if  restricted  communion  were 
abolished,  our  principles  would  achieve  a 
much  more  speedy  triumph.  But  the  question 
of  success  or  of  defeat  should  not  affect  our 
action.  We  have  but  one  inquiry — What  is 
right?  What  is  according  to  the  "law  and 
the  testimony"  ?  Better  is  it  for  us  to  fail 
whilst  clinging  to  the  truth  than  to  triumph 
(as  men  count  triumph)  whilst  submitting  to 
an  error. 

But  facts  demonstrate  that  our  views  have 
always  been  most  successful  when  we  have 
adhered  most  uncompromisingly  to  the  prac- 
tice of  inviting  to  the  table  of  the  Lord  only 
those  whom  we  believe  to  be  scripturally 
qualified.  If  we  institute  a  comparison  be- 
twixt the  United  States,  where  strict  com- 
munion prevails,  and  Great  Britain,  where 
to  a  great  extent  our  brethren  recognize 
mixed  communion,   we  shall  discover   that 


BEFORE    COMMUNION.  31 

our  principles  have  progressed  much  more 
rapidly  in  the  former  than  in  the  latter 
country,  e.  g. :  In  the  year  1850,  the  number 
of  communicants  in  the  United  States,  of 
Baptist  churches  holding  our  views  on  the 
communion  question,  was  75-1,652.  In  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  the  total  number  of 
Baptists  is  reported,  in  the  same  year,  to  be 
132,719.  From  this  statement,  copied  from 
the  Baptist  Almanac  of  1850,  it  appears  that 
the  number  of  Baptists  in  the  United  States 
is  nearly  six  times  as  great  as  their  number 
in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  Difference  of 
population  does  not  account  for  the  difference: 
for  at  the  time  of  the  comparison,  the  popu- 
lation of  the  European  countries  was  a  little 
greater  than  that  of  our  own  country.  Xor 
is  the  disproportion  explained  by  the  earlier 
introduction  of  Baptist  principles  into  this 
country.  In  this  respect  Great  Britain  has 
enjoyed  a  decided  advantage.  Nor  can  any 
thing  be  assigned  in  the  different  govern- 
ments of  the  countries  as  an  adequate  expla- 


32  BELIEF   AND   BAPTISM 

nation  of  the  fact,  though  we  believe  our 
government  to  be  most  favorable  for  the 
spread  of  a  spiritual  Christianity.  We  be- 
lieve the  chief  cause  to  be  that  which  has 
been  mentioned.  Kor  are  we  alone  in  this 
judgment.  After  a  fair  statement  of  the  rela- 
tive advantages  and  disadvantages  which  the 
denomination  has  experienced  in  both  coun- 
tries, Prof.  Curtis  well  concludes,  in  view 
of  the  superior  progress  of  our  churches  in 
the  United  States,  that,  "under  God,  this  has 
originated  in  their  assuming  an  independent 
and  uncompromising  basis;  their  churches 
being  formed,  not  on  Eobert  Hall's  plan  of 
mixed  membership,  but  upon  that  derived 
from  the  apostolic  practice  of  making  bap- 
tism a  prerequisite  to  membership  in  their 
churches." 

In  our  own  country,  our  Free-will  Baptist 
brethren  practice  open  communion.  Does 
this  promote  their  prosperity  ?  Let  us  see. 
In  1844  the  whole  number  of  Free  will 
Baptists  in  the  United  States,  was  50,634. 


BEFORE   COMMUNION.  33 

In  1858  they  report  50,312.  Thus  it  ap- 
pears, that  in  the  course  of  fourteen  years, 
instead  of  increasing,  they  have  really  de- 
clined in  number.  (See  Baptist  Almanac.) 
It  will  not  do  to  say  that  this  decline  is  due 
to  their  Arminianism ;  for  our  Methodist 
brethren,  who  agree  with  them  in  this  view, 
do  not  appear  to  have  been  much  hindered 
on  this  account.  But  whilst  the  mixed 
communion  Baptists  of  our  country  have 
lost  322  members  in  fourteen  years,  those 
who  insist  on  the  Kew  Testament  requisition 
have  gained  in  the  same  period  nearly 
300,000  members.  If  we  institute  a  com- 
parison betwixt  England  and  Wales,  we  shall 
have  a  like  result.  The  number  of  those 
who  hold  our  sentiments  in  Wales  is  greatly 
larger,  in  proportion  to  the  population  of  the 
country,  than  the  number  of  Baptists  in  En- 
gland. The  Welsh  Baptists,  it  is  well  known, 
insist  upon  inviting  to  the  communion  those 
only  who  have  been  baptized  on  a  profession 
of  their  faith.     Thus  it  appears,  that  whether 


34:  BELIEF   AND   BAPTISM 

we  compare  the  denominations  holding  dif- 
ferent views  on  this  subject,  and  found  in 
different  countries,  or  whether  we  compare 
those  pursuing  these  different  practices  in 
the  same  country,  the  result  abundantly  con- 
firms the  position  which  we  have  taken. 

Yes,  brethren,  God  has  blessed  us  whilst 
we  have  been  contending  for  what  we  believe 
to  be  the  truth  on  this  important  subject. 
Never  have  our  principles  been  so  triumph- 
ant as  in  this  country.  Look  at  your  own  As- 
sociation. Though  you  have  been  frequently 
dismissing  churches  to  join  other  Associa- 
tions, your  number  is  to-day  nearly  three- 
fold as  great  as  it  was  twenty  years  ago. 
We  believe  that  one  source  of  our  prosperity 
has  been,  under  God,  our  stedfast  adherence 
to  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
respecting  the  ordinances  of  the  Christian 
church.  And  "as  we  have  received  Christ 
Jesus  the  Lord,  so  let  us  walk  in  him  ;"  let 
us  continue  to  contend  for  the  faith  on  this 
subject,  which  we  believe  to  have  been  de- 


BEFORE   COMMUNION.  oO 

livered  to  the  saints ;  asking  on  this,  as  on 
all  other  questions,  Lord,  what  will  thou 
have  us  do  ? 

In  the  mean  time  let  us  endeavor  to  culti-. 
vate  a  closer  spiritual  communion  with  our 
brethren  of  every  name.  Let  us  emulate  the 
earnest  piety,  the  enlarged  benevolence,  and 
the  self-sacrificing  zeal,  which  they  so  beau- 
tifully exhibit  in  the  service  of  that  same 
Jesus  for  whom  we  toil.  Let  us,  as  far  as 
we  possibly  can,  co-operate  with  them  in 
efforts  for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ.  And  when  they  say  to  us,  that  as 
vou  expect  to  commune  with  us  in  heaven 
(as  most  assuredly  we  do),  you  ought  to  wel- 
come us  to  the  table  now ;  let  us  remind 
them  that  there  will  be  no  table  spread  in 
heaven ;  and  that  we  can  have,  and  do  have 
the  same  communion  with  them  on  earth 
which  we  hope  to  enjoy,  in  a  higher  and 
holier  degree,  in  that  bright  world  where 

"  Perfect  love  and  friendship  shall  reign 
Through  all  eternity." 


THE  PURE  CHURCH 


CHARACTERISED  BY  SPIRITUALITY. 


A.  Discourse  preached  before  the   Baptist  Convention   of  the 
State  of  Vermont,  at  Brandon,  October  5,  1S53. 


Kl'     LL'  U  1  A  N    11  AIDE  N. 
Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Button's  River,  "Yi 


ET   REQUEST    OF    THE    CO>"VENTIO?f. 


^jjilnhlpljia : 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

630  ARCH  STREET. 


Entered   according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1854,  hy  the 

AMERICAN   BAPTIST   PUBLICATION    SOCIETY 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  In 
and  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


STEREOTYPED   BY  GEORGE   CHARLES. 
PRINTED   DT   KING    &   BAIRD. 


THE  PURE  CIIU11C1I 


CHARACTERISED  BY  SPIRITUALITY. 


1  Peter  11 :  5. — Ye  also,  as  lively  stones,  are  built  up  a  spiritual 
house,  a  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to 
God  by  Jesus  Christ 

The  ancient  Jews  beheld  in  the  exter- 
nals of  their  appointed  worship,  numerous 
and  powerful  attractions. 

The  magnificent  proportions  of  the  edi- 
fice in  which  that  worship  was  conducted ; 
its  massive  walls ;  its  grand  colonnades ;  its 
spacious  courts  ;  its  sumptuous  apartments  : 
its  costly  furniture ;  its  pompous  retinue  of 
a  gorgeously  robed  and  mitred  priesthood  ; 
its  often  repeated  and  imposing  sacrifices; 

(3) 


4  THE    PURE   CHURCH 

all  conspired  to  invest  their  system  with  an 
enchanting  splendor. 

When  Jecus  of  Nazareth  appatredas  the 
promised  Messiah,  many  enrolled  them- 
selves among  his  followers.  But  to  Juda- 
ism they  still  cherished,  nevertheless,  an 
undying  attachment.  Though  the  orb  of 
that  economy,  while  they  yet  looked  upon 
it,  was  sinking  into  the  night  of  the  past, 
their  eyes  lingered  on  the  varied  hues  of 
the  mellow  twilight,  and  they  saw  in  them 
a  glory,  which,  to  their  ardent  imaginations, 
surpassed  the  pure  and  spreading  effulgence 
of  the  gospel  dawn. 

This  mischievous  illusion,  adapted  to 
"  corrupt  their  minds  from  the  simplicity 
that  is  in  Christ,"  and  to  ensnare  their  affec- 
tions "to  weak  and  beggarly  elements," 
the  Apostles  timely  discerned,  and  with 
becoming  prudence  and  energy,  sought  to 
dispel.  The  external  splendor  of  the  old 
dispensation,  they  did  not  deny;   but  an 


CHARACTERISED    BY    SPIRITUALITY.  5 

internal  splendor,  greatly  transcending  it, 
they  discovered  in  the  spirituality  of  the 
new.  During  the  Ions;  nisjht-time  of  anti- 
qnity,  the  brightest  star  in  the  firmament, 
they  cheerfully  conceded,  was  Judaism: 
but  when  the  world  was  flooded  with  the 
beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  the 
brilliancy  of  that  star  faded  and  disappeared. 

:i  If  THE    MINISTRATION   OF    DEATH    was    glo- 

rious,"  says  Paul,  "which  glory  was  to 
be  done  away,  how  shall  not  the  ministra- 
tiox  of  the  Spirit  be  rather  glorious  ? 
For  if  the  ministration  of  condemnation 
be  odorv,  much  more  doth  the  ministration 
of  righteousness  exceed  in  glory  !  For 
even  that  which  was  made  glorious,  had 
no  glory  in  this  respect,  by  reason  of  the 
glory  that  excelleth.  For  if  that  which  is 
doxe  away  was  glorious,  much  more  that 
which  remaineth  is  glorious." 

Mind  excels  matter.     The  moral  purity- 
of  tl^e  soul  outshines  the  splendor  of  the 


6  THE    PURE    CHURCH 

sun.  So  the  spirituality  of  the  new  eco- 
nomy, glows  with  a  divine  radiance,  im- 
measurably surpassing  the  outward  pomp 
and  Hare  of  the  old.  Did  the  magnificence 
of  the  tempk,  a  mere  material  fabric, 
enchain  the  heart  of  the  Jew  ?  A  nobler 
temple  is  the  church,  aa  spiritual  house," 
built  up  of  "living  stones."  Was  there 
enshrined  in  the  breast  of  the  Israelite, 
an  ineffaceable  veneration  for  the  Aaronic 
priesthood  ?  A  more  illustrious  priesthood 
is  that  of  Christ  —  and  under  Him,  the 
church  of  Christ,  every  member  of  which, 
by  "an  unction  from  the  Holy  One,"  is 
solemnly  consecrated  to  the  sacerdotal 
office.  Was  the  daily  immolation  of  ani- 
mal life  by  Jewish  priests,  a  sacrifice  to  be 
revered?  A  more  acceptable  oblation  is 
the  one  great  offering  of  the  Son  of  God 
upon  the  cross  for  our  sins ;  and  the  daily 
offering  of  the  redeemed,  the  holocaust 
of  the    "hidden    man    of   the    heart" — a 


CHARACTERISED    BY    SPIRITUALITY.  7 

"spiritual  sacrifice,  acceptable  to   God  by 
Jesus  Christ." 

The  grand  characteristic  of  the  kingdom 
of  the  Messiah,  then,  is  its  Spirituality  ; 
a  glorious  element,  which  serves  to  distin- 
guish it,  not  only  from  Judaism,  but  from 
heathenism ;  nay,  even  from  the  corrup- 
tions of  Christianity  itself.  A  church  of 
Christ,  as  far  as  it  is  conformed  to  the 
scriptural  model,  uncontaminated  by  error, 
unperverted  by  tradition,  unpolluted  by 
connection  with  the  principalities  and  pow- 
ers of  this  world,  and  uninvested  with  the 
meretricious  trappings  of  papal  Rome, — 
such  a  church,  I  say,  is  characterised  by 
spirituality.  In  a  word,  a  pure  church  is 
a  Spiritual  Church. 

i 

In   maintaining  this   position,  I  would 

first  observe  that,  a  pure  church  is  spiritual 

in  its  membership.     The  materials  of  which 

it  is  composed,  are  all  endowed  with  spi- 


8  THE    PURE    CHURCH 

ritual  vitality.  Such  is  the  teaching  of  the 
text.  Metaphorically  viewed,  the  church 
is  represented  as  a  temple.  Christ,  the 
foundation,  is  a  living  stone:  "To  whom 
coming  as  unto  a  living  stone."  But,  hy 
the  same  omnipotence  which  breathed  life 
into  Adam's  nostrils,  this  vital  principle 
is  sent  up  from  the  foundation,  throughout 
every  part  of  the  edifice.  Hence,  each 
particular  stone  is  pronounced  * lively,'  or 
rather  '  Iking.'  Each  stone  being  ani- 
mated, the  whole  house  is  animated-:  "Ye 
are  built  up  a  spiritual  house."  The  effect 
of  this  animating  principle,  Paul  describes 
as  a  growth:  "In  whom  all  the  building, 
fitly  framed  together,  groweth  unto  a  holy 
temple  in  the  Lord ;  in  whom  ye  also  are 
builded  together,  for  an  habitation  of  God 
through  the  Spirit."  The  result  is,  that 
all  the  materials,  whether  considered  sepa- 
rately as  isolated  stones,  or  collectively  as 
a  magnificent  buildiug,   are  ■  vivified  with 


CHARACTERISED    BY   SPIRITUALITY.  \) 

spirituality.  The  church,  throughout  its 
entire  membership,  being  animated  with 
the  Spirit  of  Christ,  is  itself  spiritual. 

A  glorious  transformation  has  been 
wrought.  Once,  the  materials  of  this 
church  were  dead :  now,  they  are  alive ; 
once,  in  bondage  under  the  elements  of 
this  world :  but  now,  delivered.  The  Son 
has  made  them  free,  and  they  are  free 
indeed.  Once,  they  "  walked  according  to 
the  course  of  this  world,  according  to  the 
prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  the  spirit 
that  now  worketh  in  the  children  of  dis- 
obedience." Xow,  they  have  received,  "not 
the  spirit  of  the  world,  but  the  Spirit  which 
is  of  God,  that  they  might  know  the 
things  that  are  freely  given  to  them  of 
God."  Once,  they  had  their  "  conversation 
in  the  lusts  of  the  flesh;  fulfilling  the 
desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind ;  and 
were  by  nature  the  children  of  wrath,  even 
as  others."    Xow,  their  "conversation  is  in 


10  THE   TRUE    CHURCH 

heaven."  "The  Spirit  itself  beareth  wit- 
ness with  their  spirit,  that  they  are  the 
children  of  God."  Their  minds  are  re- 
newed. The  old  man  is  put  off.  The 
new  man,  created  after  God  in  righteous- 
ness and  true  holiness,  is  put  on.  They  are 
"led  by  the  Spirit,"  are  "after  the  Spirit," 
and  do  "mind  the  things  of  the  Spirit." 
They  bear  his  image  and  superscription. 
They  are  regenerate,  holy,  heavenly.  "Ye 
are  a  chosen  generation,"  says  Peter,  "a 
royal  priesthood,  a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar 
people,  that  ye  should  show  forth  the 
praises  of  him,  who  hath  called  you  out 
of  darkness  into  his  marvelous  light ; 
which  in  time  past  were  not  a  people,  but 
are  now  the  people  of  God;  which  had 
not  obtained  mercy,  but  now  have  obtained 
mercy."  How  clearly  every  epithet,  every 
contrast,  and  every  varied  form  of  expres- 
sion, involves  the  doctrine  of  the  spiritu- 
ality  of  the   membership  in  the  church ! 


CHARACTERISED    BY    SPIRITUALITY.         11 

To  the  same  effect,  is  the  testimony  of  the 
Faithful  and  True  Witness,  at  the  tribunal 
of  Pilate  :  "  My  kingdom   is   not   of  this 

world Xow   is   my   kingdom  not 

from  hence." 

Such,  then,  in  an  uncorrupted  church, 
is  its  membership.  Spirituality  is  their 
distinguishing  endowment.  Xow,  as  the 
entire  membership  is  spiritual,  the  minis- 
try, being  a  component  of  the  church, 
must  be  spiritual.  It  follows,  moreover, 
by  a  law  of  congruence,  that  the  ministry 
shall  be  spiritual  in  an  eminent  degree. 
"When  all  the  rank  and  file  that  compose 
an  army,  must  be  distinguished  for  hero- 
ism, much  more  must  the  same  quality 
distinguish  their  chief.  TVTien,  in  the 
animal  economy,  the  hand,  the  foot,  and 
every  member  must  possess  vitality,  much 
more  must  the  living  principle  animate  the 
heart  and  the  head.  When  the  whole 
church  is  a  priesthood  of  saints,  "an  holy 


12  THE    PURE    CHURCH 

priesthood,"  all  having  received  the  "anoint- 
ing which  teacheth  all  things,"  Jiow  copious 
and  fragrant  should  he  the  divine  unction 
of  their  examplars  and  overseers!  Both 
the  memhership  in  general,  then,  and  the 
ministry  in  particular,  must  be  spiritual ; 
renewed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  enjoying  his 
influences,  graces,  and  gifts. 

Here  we  discover  the  true  bounds,  with- 
in which,  a  church  of  Christ  must  be  cir- 
cumscribed. She  may  "  enlarge  the  place 
of  her  tent,  stretch  forth  the  curtains  of 
her  habitation,  lengthen  her  cords  and 
strengthen  her  stakes ;"  yet  she  may  never 
stretch  herself  beyond  her  measure.  She 
may  never  surpass  the  limits  of  visible  spiri- 
tuality. But  spirituality,  visible  or  invisi- 
ole,  is  not  yet  universal.  Ko  zone  so 
salubrious,  no  Eden  so  well  dressed,  no 
tract  of  country  so  exempt  from  the  wiles 
of  the  serpent,  as  to  contain  exclusively  a 
holy  people.     Under  the   most  propitious 


CHARACTERISED    BY    SPIRITUALITY.         13 

sky,  and  on  the  most  thoroughly  fallowed 
soil,  tares  thrive  as  well  as  wheat. 

Hence,  a  pure  church  cannot  be  territorial. 
Neither  theoretically  nor  practically,  can 
she  include  wdthin  her  pale,  the  entire 
population  of  a  given  area,  let  that  area 
be  either  narrow  or  broad. 

Away,  then,  with  territorial  organiza- 
tions. Away  with  establishments  —  pro- 
vincial, state,  national,  and  ecumenical — as 
of  Scotland,  England,  Greece,  and  Rome. 
Away  with  that  ostentatious  nomenclature, 
which  appropriates  to  a  sect,  or  to  the 
clergy  of  a  sect,  territorial  names ;  which. 
in  an  exclusive  sense,  styles  some  particular 
communion,  in  a  given  region,  the  church 
of  that  region  ; — which  singles  out,  in  the 
same  local  section,  here  and  there  a  min- 
ister, perhaps  a  worthy  one,  perhaps  other- 
wise, as  pre-eminently  its  bishop; — the 
bishop,  for  instance,  of  Massachusetts,  the 
bishop  of  ISTew  York,  or  the  bishop  of 
2 


L4  THE    PURE   CHURCH 

Vermont.  If  in  the  forum  of  modesty, 
uhese  high-sounding  assumptions  escape 
an  indictment,  yet  inevitably  are  they 
arraigned  at  the  tribunal  of  the  Gospel. 
There  they  must  answer  to  the  grave 
charge  of  banding  together,  in  a  perpetual 
conspiracy,  to  remove  the  ancient  land- 
marks from  between  the  church  and  the 
world.  It  needs  not  the  prescience  of  a 
seer,  to  predict  with  unerring  certainty, 
that  with  Jesus  as  the  judge,  and  the 
twelve  apostles  as  the  jury,  the  verdict 
must  be — guilty. 

II.  As  the  church  unalloyed,  is  spiritual 
in  membership,  so  it  is  spiritual  in  doctrine. 
The  uncompromising  enemy  of  tumult  and 
sedition  ;  the  steadfast  friend  of  wholesome 
government;  the  efficient  patron  of  law 
and  order;  the  church,  nevertheless,  has 
no  distinctively  political  principles.  It 
espouses    no    political    creed.     It   strikes 


CHARACTERISED    BY    SPIRITUALITY.         15 

bauds  with  no  political  party.     It  weds  no 
particular  system  of  civil  government. 

Nor  are  its  principles  literary  or  scien- 
tific. On  every  department  of  learning 
tliey  shed,  indeed,  a  genial  influence ;  but 
are  themselves  another  system.  The  beams 
of  noonday  permeate,  warm,  and  enlighten 
the  atmosphere,  yet  partake  not  of  its  pro- 
perties, but  retain  the  luminous  element 
which  they  receive  from  the  sun.  So  gos- 
pel doctrines  traverse  and  illuminate  the 
firmament  of  politics,  science,  and  liter- 
ature, partaking  not  of  their  properties, 
but  distinguished  by  a  divine  nature 
which  they  receive  from  the  Father  of 
Lights.  Philosophy  may  change  her  dog- 
mas ;  Science,  her  theories ;  Literature  vary 
like  the  hues  of  the  chameleon :  now  may 
flourish  the  tenets  of  the  Peripatetics  ;  now 
of  Bacon ;  now  the  system  of  Ptolemy, 
and  now  again  of  Copernicus :  Archaeo- 
logy may  wring  from  the  shriveled  hands 


16  THE    PURE    CHURCH 

of  hoary  Time  his  choicest  relics;  and 
Geology  disembowel  the  earth,  to  inspect 
its  entrails  and  divine  new  theories.  But 
what  of  it  ?  Daylight  is  unchanged.  Rays 
from  the  -  eternal  throne  are  unchanged. 
Here  and  there,  the  beams  may  be  sepa- 
rated by  a  prism,  converged  by  a  lens,  or 
reflected  by  a  mirror ;  yet  the  light  from 
on  high  ever  shines  in  its  own  unborrowed 
brightness — is  ever  resplendent  with  its 
own  native  lustre. 

III.  A  pure  church  is  spiritual  in  its 
Worship.  "  The  hour  cometh,  and  now  is, 
when  the  true  worshipers,  shall  worship 
the  Father,  in  spirit  and  in  truth ;  for  the 
Father  seeketh  such  to  worship  him.  God 
is  a  Spirit;  and  they  that  worship  him, 
must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 
The  "  living  stones  are  built  up  a  spiritual 
house,  a  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up  spirit- 
ual sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus 


CHARACTERISED    BY    SPIRITUALITY.         17 

Christ."  Their  sacrifice  of  prayer  is  spiri- 
tual :  "I  will  pray  with  the  Spirit."  Their 
sacrifice  of.  praise  in  sacred  song  is  spiritual : 
"  Teaching  aud  admonishing  one  another 
in  psalms,  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs, 
singing  with  grace  in  your  hearts  to  the 
Lord."  Their  preaching  is  spiritual :  ""We 
are  not  as  many  which  corrupt  the  word 
of  God,  but  as  of  sincerity,  but  as  of  God, 
in  the  sight  of  God  speak  we  in  Christ." 
Even  their  symbolic  worship  is  spiritual — 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper.  The  out- 
ward signs,  indeed,  are  physical ;  but  by  a 
divine  constitution  they  become  to  be- 
lievers the  exponents  of  spiritual  truth. 
And  from  this,  their  relation  to  truth,  they 
are  used  in  acts  of  worship,  exclusively  in 
a  spiritual  sense.  Think  of  these  central 
fatts  of  the  Gospel — Death  and  the  Resur- 
rection. Trace  out  their  several  ramifica- 
tions :  the  literal  death  and  resurrection  of 
Christ;  the  literal  death  and  resurrection 


18  THE    PURE   CHURCH 

of  believers  in  Christ ;  and  their  metaphor- 
ical death  and  resurrection — their  death 
and  burial  to  sin,  involving  a  cleansing 
from  guilt,  and  their  resurrection  to  a  new 
and  holy  life.  As  often  as  a  new  believer, 
personally  and  voluntarily  answers,  in  the 
baptismal  burial,  "  a  good  conscience  to- 
ward God,"  how  appositely  and  impressively 
is  every  portion  of  this  fundamental  truth 
avouched  and  taught,  "  Buried  with  him 
by  baptism  into  death ;  that  like  as  Christ 
was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory 
of  the  Father,  so  even  we  also  should  walk 
in  newness  of  life."  Think  of  that  vital 
doctrine,  the  Atonement — the  Saviour's 
body  and  blood,  considered  as  the  source 
and  support  of  spiritual  life.  How  vividly 
is  this  essential  truth  declared  and  com- 
memorated by  the  solemn  participation  of 
the  bread  and  the  cup  !  The  authoritative 
injunction  is,  "  This  do,  in  remembrance 
of  me."     "For  as  often  as  ve  eat  this  bread 


CHARACTERISED    BY    SPIRITUALITY.        19 

and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  the  Lord's 
death  till  he  come." 

The  appointed  worship  with  symbols, 
then,  is  spiritual ;  eminently  so,  inasmuch 
as  their  lawful  use  is  limited  to  spiritual 
persons.  Bites  are  not  the  germ  of  vitality 
in  the  "living  stones,"  but  the  manifes- 
tation. Even  the  initiatory  rite  of  the 
church,  originates  nothing.  Baptism  is  not 
a  friction-match,  smeared  with  phosphor- 
ated grace,  to  be  dextrously  plied  by  con- 
secrated fingers,  for  lighting  up  a  piety 
"not  seen  as  yet;"  but  is  the  vivid  corrus- 
cation  of  an  internal  fire  already  visibly 
glowing — a  fire  kindled  by  the  breath  of 
Him,  who  consumed  the  drenched  sacrifice 
on  the  Tishbite's  altar. 

IV.  So  far  we  have  seen  that  a  pure 
church  is  spiritual  in  its  constitution  and 
economy;  particularly  in  its  membership, 
doctrines,  and  worship.     But  I  go  further. 


20  THE   PURE    CHURCH 

Such  a  church  is  spiritual,  considered  in 
reference  to  any  and  every  other  object, 
internal  and  external.  That  is,  a  pure 
church  is  spiritual  in  all  its  relations. 

Toward  its  own  individual  members  its 
relations  are  spiritual.  It  is  not  related  to 
them  as  a  householder  to  his  family,  or  a 
corporation  to  the  stockholders,  or  a  state 
to  its  citizens  ;  but  as  the  church  triumph- 
ant, to  the  saints  before  the  throne.  In  the 
economy  of  grace,  "  we  know  no  man  after 
the  flesh." 

The  relations  of  the  church  to  Christ, 
are  spiritual.  Does  it  sustain  to  him  a 
relation,  analogous  to  that  of  the  branch 
to  the  vine,  the  wife  to  the  husband, 
the  body  to  the  head,  a  temple  to  its  foun- 
dation, or  a  kingdom  to  its  sovereign? 
None  of  these  are  the  relations  of  nature, 
but  all  of  grace ;  none  external  and  tem- 
poral, but  all  internal  and  spiritual ;  "  Yea, 
though  we  have  known  Christ  after  the 


CHARACTERISED    BY   SPIRITUALITY.        21 

flesh,  yet  now  henceforth  know  we  him 
no  more." 

Of  the  same  character  are  the  relations 
of  the  church  to  the  unrenewed  world ;  the 
relations  of  light  to  darkness,  of  the  living 
to  the  dead,  of  animated  stones  to  stones 
inanimate.  Carnal  relations,  the  church 
knows  not.  "  There  is  neither  Jew  nor 
Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there 
is  neither  male  nor  female  ;  for  ye  are  all 
one  in  Christ  Jesus."  She  sustains  no 
peculiar  affinity  to  any  particular  race, 
Mongolian,  African,  Caucasian,  or  even 
Abrahamic. 

Her  law  of  succession  is  not  natural, 
nor  prelatic,  but  spiritual.  ■  Parentage  in 
Christ's  house,  is  spiritual  parentage; 
births,  are  spiritual  births ;  children  are 
spiritual  children.  Natural  consanguinity 
has  there  no  lawful  place.  If  it  enters,  it 
enters  not  by  the  door,  but  climbs  up  some 
other  way.     If  it  gains  a  footing  within,  it 


22  THE    PURE   CHURCH 

gains  it,  not  by  equity,  but  by  usurpation. 
Hereditary  affinities,  hereditary  rights,  and 
hereditary  privileges,  are  suited  to  Caesar's 
kingdom  only ;  not  to  Christ's.  And  the 
law  is,  "  Render  unto  Caesar,  the  things 
which  are  Caesar's ;  and  unto  God,  the 
things  that  are  God's."  In  this  matter,  the 
church  is  distinguished,  not  only  from  the 
governments  of  this  world,  but  from  the 
ancient  theocracy  of  the  Jews. 

An  essential  element  in  that  theocracy, 
was  natural  inheritability.  "I  will  estab- 
lish my  covenant  between  me  and  thee," 
said  Jehovah  to  Abraham,  "and  thy  seed 
after  thee,  in  their  generations,  for  an  ever 
lasting  covenant,  to  be  a  God  unto  thee 
and  to  thy  seed  after  thee.  And  I  will 
give  unto  thee,  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee, 
the  land  wherein  thou  art  a  stranger,  all 
the  land  of  Canaan,  for  an  everlasting  pos- 
session; and  I  will  be  their  God."*    By 

*  Gen.  xvii.  7,  8. 


CHARACTERISED    DY    SriRITUALITY.        2S 

the  terms  of  this  compact — a  compact 
which  was  afterward  fully  unfolded  in  the 
Mosaic  economy — Abraham  and  his  natu- 
ral posterity  in  a  particular  line,  were  re- 
ceived by  the  Lord  into  a  peculiar  relation. 
But  this  relation  was  external  and  temporal 
only  ;  not  spiritual  and  permanent.*  For 
as  to  duration,  the  covenant  itself — and 
consequently  the  relation  involved — was  to 
be  commensurate  only  with  the  possession, 
by  Abraham's  descendants,  of  the  land  of 
Canaan.  Both  the  "possession"  and  the 
"covenant"  are  styled  "everlasting;"  that 
is,  while  one  was  continuing,  the  other 
would  continue.  Whenever  one  should 
expire,  the  other  would  expire.  Xot  with 
exact  precision,  indeed,  but  essentially, 
each  would  survive  for  the  same  protracted 
though  limited  period  of  time.  The  here- 
ditary "  token  of  the  covenant,"  was  cir- 
cumcision ; — to  Abraham  "  a  seal   of  the 

*  Heb.  vii.  18,  19. 


24  THE   PURE   CHURCH 

righteousness  of  the  faith  which  he  had, 
yet  being  uncircumcised;"  but  to  uncon- 
scious infants,  not  a  seal  of  their  faith,  nor 
of  the  faith  of  their  parents,  but  a  badge  of 
their  inherited  privileges  in  that  external 
covenant.  As  was  indicated  by  this  badge, 
the  peculiar  advantages  of  the  covenant  in 
question,  were  transmitted  from  father  to 
son,  by  the  law  of  physical  descent. 

But  as,  in  the  visions  of  the  Apocalypse, 
from  the  face  of  him  who  sat  on  the  great 
white  throne,  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
fled  away,  and  there  was  found  no  place 
for  them,  so  when  the  King  of  Glory  ap- 
peared in  the  flesh,  and  assumed  his  seat 
upon  his  holy  hill  of  Zion,  "  to  be  the  head 
over  all  things  to  the  church,"  hereditary 
affinities,  privileges  and  rights,  together 
with  the  dispensation  to  which  they  be- 
longed, all  quickly  vanished,  to  reappear 
no  more  forever.*     Then  was  ratified,  as 

*  Heb.  viii.  6—13. 


CHARACTERISED    BY    SPIRITUALITY.         *2i) 

the  visible  constitution  of  a  new  economy, 
the  Covenant  of  Grace.  The  rudiments 
of  this  covenant  had  early  been  given  to 
Abraham  and  to  Isaac,  in  the  promise  of 
the  Messiah.*  But  unlike  the  "covenant 
of  circumcision,"  with  which  it  never  was 
incorporated,  it  was  in  its  inception,  is  now, 
and  must  remain  to  all  generations,  exclu- 
sively spiritual. f  Accordingly  all  its  pe- 
culiar privileges  follow  the  line  of  spiritual 
descent  only — the  line  of  Abraham's  true 
"seed  through  the  righteousness  of  faith. ;'t 
"Were  it  otherwise,  were  an  unconscious 
infant,  by  virtue  of  the  piety  of  its  parents, 
to  bear  some  special  affinity  to  the  Gospel 
Covenant,  such  an  affinity,  too,  as  to  be 
entitled  to  it3  distinguishing  badge,  how 
irresistible  would  be  the  inference,  that 
grace  is  subject  to  a  law  of  physical  entail ! 
How  inevitable   the   doctrine,  that  piety, 

*  Gen.  xn,  3  ;  xxii.  18;  xxvi,  4.    f  Gal.  iii,  8,  9,  14—18. 
J  Rom.  iv,  13—18;  Gal.  iii.  29:  John  viii,  39. 

3 


26  THE   PURE   CHURCH 

like  consumption,  flows  presumptively  at 
least,  in  the  family  line  !  How  obvious 
the  deduction,  that,  by  some  occult  dia- 
thesis, the  rudiments  of  salvation  run  in 
the  blood ! 

" But  what  saith  the  Scripture?"  Abra- 
ham is  "  the  father  of  all  them  that  be- 
lieve ;"  not  of  such  as  are  incapable  of  faith. 
"  The  children  of  the  flesh,  these  are  not 
the  children  of  God."  Natural  descent, 
then,  is  excluded — lineal  inheritance,  set 
aside.  Relationship  in  the  household  of 
Christ  is  not  carnal,  but  spiritual.  "  The 
children  of  the  Church,"  are  not  the  fruit  of 
the  body,  but  the  offspring  of  a  heavenly 
birth — "  "Wliich  were  born,  not  of  blood, 
nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will 
of  man,  but  of  God."  All  her  children  are 
"  taught  of  the  Lord."  All  have  "  received 
the  Spirit  by  the  hearing  of  faith."  Her 
new-born  babes  desire  the  sincere  milk  of 
the  word,  that  they  may  grow  thereby." 


CHARACTERISED    BY    SPIRITUALITY.        27 

Will  it  be  objected  to  this  doctrine,  that 
it  wears  toward  our  helpless  offspring,  "a 
cold  and  forbidding"  aspect?  The  very 
reverse.  It  strips,  indeed,  from  the  de- 
pendent little  one,  the  threadbare  robe  of 
an  antiquated  tradition,  but  tenderly  wraps 
it  in  the  fresh,  sweet  swaddling-bands  of 
parental  affection,  fidelity  and  hope ;  and, 
bearing  it  upward  in  the  arms  of  faith  and 
prayer,  lays  it,  a  priceless  offering,  on  the 
Saviour's  altar.  It  espies  the  lovely  infant, 
in  its  pitchy  rush  ark,  where  maternal  so- 
licitude has  carefully  placed  it,  among  the 
flags,  on  the  brink  of  "  that  ancient  river, 
the  river"  Delusion ;  and  clasping  it  with  a 
compassionate  embrace,  summons  yearning 
Piety,  and  says  to  her,  "Take  this  child 
and  nurse  it  for  me,  and  I  will  give  thee 
thy  wages."  And  it  questions  not  that  in 
due  time  this  Moses,  drawn  from  the  wa- 
ters, shall  be  qualified  by  assiduous  instruc- 
tion,  succeeded    by  a  divine   impulse,  to 


28  THE    PURE    CHURCH 

identify  himself  voluntarily  with  chosen 
Israel,  and  go  forth  with  the  ransomed 
hosts  to  the  true  Canaan.  It  declines  to 
convey  the  child  to  the  font,  "which  can 
never  make  the  comers  thereunto  perfect, 
as  pertaining  to  the  conscience ;  "  but  car- 
ries it  directly  to  the  bosom  of  Him,  who 
once  took  up  infants  in  his  arms,  laid  his 
hands  on  them,  blessed  them,  and  benignly 
said,  "  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come 
unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Let  republican  America  be  charged,  if  it 
must  be  so,  with  indifference  to  the  chil- 
dren of  her  land,  because  she  withholds 
from  them  the  freeman's  oath,  until  they 
can  receive  it  voluntarily  and  understand- 
ingly.  But  let  not  the  charge  be  brought 
against  a  church,  that  she  assumes  a  bear- 
ing of  indifference  toward  the  offspring  of 
her  members,  because,  while  she  inculcates 
the  strictest  parental  fidelity,  she  adminis- 


CHARACTERISED    BY   SPIRITUALITY.         29 

ters  not  that  far  more  sacred  oath — the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  Great  King — until  she 
discovers  a  preparation  to  receive  it,  both 
with  the  understanding  and  the  heart. 

The  several  considerations  to  which  we 
have  adverted,  may  serve  to  indicate 

1.  The  scriptural  criterion  of  a  true  church; 
namely,  Spirituality.  As  is  the  spirit- 
uality of  any  church,  so  is  its  triteness. 
Whatever  church,  considered  as  a  house, 
is  most  thoroughly  charged  with  this  vital 
element;  whatever  church  is  built  upon 
the  living  foundation  and  of  living  stones, 
offering  sacrifices  pre-eminently  spiritual, 
and  consequently  most  "  acceptable  to  God 
by  Jesus  Christ;"  whatever  church  excels 
in  spirituality  of  membership,  of  doctrine, 
of  worship,  and  of  relations, — such  a 
church,  I  say,  beyond  all  others,  is  scriptu- 
rally  true.  On  the  contrary,  any  particular 
church,  in  proportion  to  its  want  of  spirit- 
3* 


30  THE    PURE    CHURCH 

uality,  is   scripturally  antichristian,  or,    in 
other  words,  false. 

Will  the  trueness  of  a  church  be  argued, 
however,  on  the  ground  that  she  traces  up 
her  existence  to  a  remote  antiquity?  As 
well,  for  a  similar  reason,  might  manhood 
be  predicated  of  a  mummy.  Will  the 
unbroken  succession  of  regular  orders  in  the 
ministry  be  urged  ?  As  well  might  the 
plea  be  advanced,  that  the  bandages  are 
unbroken  with  which  this  mummy  is  en- 
wrapped. The  mummy  was  once  a  man. 
Centuries  on  centuries  ago,  it  lived,  moved, 
breathed,  and  sustained  the  various  rela- 
tions of  genuine  manhood.  Even  now,  it 
exhibits  the  outlines  of  the  human  form. 
It  possesses  human  members ;  the  head, 
the  hands,  the  feet,  all  symmetrically  ar- 
ranged in  their  appropriate  positions.  Xo 
one  can  say  that  the  blood  of  this  mummy 
is  not  now  coursing  his  own  veins.  Why 
not  then  pronounce  the  mummy  a  man  ; 


CHARACTERISED    BY    SPIRITUALITY,         61 

since,  undeniably,  many  ages  before  we 
were  born,  it  was  a  member  of  the  race, — 
to  us,  perchance,  an  ancestral  member, — 
and  since  it  retains  to  the  present  time  the 
general  figure  of  a  man  ?  Because  it  lacks 
life.  Long,  long  ago,  history,  paleology 
saith  not  when,  the  spirit  fled.  The  clayey 
tenement,  however,  remained.  By  an  un- 
interrupted existence,  it  has  continued, 
in  form  unbroken,  to  this  day.  But  obvi- 
ously it  is  not  now  a  man.  It  is  mere 
inanimate  dust. 

Some  particular  ecclesiastical  organiza- 
tion mav  boast  of  having  existed  as  a 
church  in  primitive  times,  and  of  having 
descended  in  an  uninterrupted  course, 
through  the  long  succession  of  intervening 
centuries,  to  the  present  day.  But  if  this 
ancient  confraternity  has  been  abandoned 
by  the  Spirit  of  Truth  ;  if  it  cherishes  "  a 
show  of  wisdom  in  will-worship,  after  the 
doctrines  and  commandments  of  men ;"  if 


32  THE   PURE   CHURCH 

it  is  bound  about  with  unscriptural  cere- 
monies, canons,  and  the  like — in  a  word, 
if  vitality  is  gone,  it  is  no  longer  a  true 
church,  but  an  unseemly  mockery. 

2.  Our  subject  may  serve,  furthermore, 
like  the  astronomical  observations  of  a 
ship  on  her  voyage — to  indicate,  beloved 
fathers  and  brethren,  our  true  denomina- 
tional position.  Shoulder  to  shoulder,  with 
the  whole  "  sacramental  host  of  God's 
elect,"  we  maintain  unmutilated,  the  com- 
mon standard  of  evangelical  truth.  Not 
boastingly,  but  in  humble  sinceiity,  we 
would  proclaim  to  all  people  our  unwaver- 
ing purpose,  "not  to  know  anything  among 
you  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified :" 
to  "  preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus 
the  Lord ;  and  ourselves  your  servants  for 
Jesus'  sake." 

But  in  preaching  a  crucified  Saviour,  we 
are  pained  to  discover,  that  a  distinguish- 


CHARACTERISED    BY    SPIRITUALITY.         33 

ing  principle  of  his  life-giving  gospel,  is 
extensively  overlooked  ; — the  doctrine  of 
the  complete  spirituality  of  the  church. 
On  us  especially,  if  not  exclusively,  de- 
volves the  high  trust  of  maintaining  this 
heaven-given  doctrine  in  its  original  purity. 
As  we  revere  the  authority  of  the  King  hi 
Zion,  as  we  prize  his  precious  truth,  as  we 
desire  acquittal  at  his  har,  we  would  not, 
we  dare  not  neglect  this  trust. 

Besides,  if  with  this  necessity  laid  upon 
us,  we  altogether  hold  our  peace,  where  is 
the  place  whence  "  enlargement  and  deliv- 
erance" shall  arise  ?  Who  shall  proclaim 
the  scriptural  distinction  between  the  two 
Abrahamic  covenants, — the  covenant  of 
circumcision,  external  and  temporal,  and 
the  covenant  of  grace,  internal  and  spirit- 
ual ?  "Who  contend,  that,  under  the 
gospel  economy,  none  but  a  voluntary  and 
responsible  agent  can  be  the  subject  of  any 
religious  duty?      "Who  teach  that  univer- 


34  THE    PURE   CHURCH 

sally  in  theory,  and  (unavoidable  mistakes 
excepted,)  universally  in  practice,  the 
temple  of  the  new  dispensation  must  be 
huilt  up  exclusively  of  "  living  stones  ?" 
"Who  maintain  that  the  reception  of  the 
sacred  symbols  must  invariably  follow — 
never  precede — the  manifestations  of  spi- 
ritual life  ?  Who  vindicate  the  position, 
that,  in  the  initiatory  symbol,  a  personal 
spiritual  faith  in  the  resurrection — that 
grand  corner-stone  of  Christianity — must 
be  voluntarily  and  intelligently  avowed? 
Who  sustain  the  incorrupt  doctrine,  that, 
as  regards  sacredness,  the  two  symbolic 
ordinances  are  equal ;  and,  as  an  obvious 
consequence,  that,  whoever  scripturally 
receives  the  first,  may  then, — though  not 
until  then, — receive  the  second?  "Who 
assert  and  defend  the  momentous  principle 
that  spirituality — this  unseen  electricity  of 
the  heart — travels  downward  from  genera- 
tion to  generation,  not  in  the  highway  of 


CHARACTERISED   BY   SPIRITUALITY.        35 

flesh  and  blood,  but  along  the  telegraphic 
line  of  the  new  birth?  Touching  these 
vital  sentiments,  were  we  to  seal  our  lips 
in  silence,  from  what  Anathoth  would  the 
faithful  Jeremiahs  rise  to  hear  the  impera- 
tive "word  from  the  Lord?" — "Stand  in 
the  court  of  the  Lord's  house,  and  speak 
unto  all  the  cities  of  Judah,  which  come  to 
worship  in  the  Lord's  house,  all  the  words 
that  I  command  thee  to  speak  unto  them ; 
diminish  not  a  word." 

Yet  the  assertions  have  sometimes  been 
hazarded,  that,  as  a  denomination,  we  are 
devoid  of  distinguishing  principles — that 
we  are  grounded  on  non-essentials — that 
we  contend  merely  for  forms  and  shad- 
ows— and  that  the  only  question  at  issue, 
is  the  insignificant  circumstance  of  the 
quantity  of  water  in  the  baptismal  ordi- 
nance ;  or,  as  it  has  been  tartly  expressed, 
"the  mere  mode  of  a  mode."  These  seve- 
ral imputations,  charity,  which  "hopeth  all 


36  THE    PURE    CHURCH 

things,  and  endureth  all  things,"  would 
prefer  to  attribute,  not  so  much  to  the 
spleen  of  malignity,  as  to  the  short-sighted- 
ness of  mistake.  The  eye  has  been  caught 
with  the  glitter  of  the  symbols ;  the  prin- 
ciples which  underlie  the  symbols,  it  has 
failed  to  discover. 

Mistake,  however,  admits  of  correction. 
For  this  purpose,  shall  a  single  illustration 
suffice  ?  Go  then  with  me,  in  imagination, 
to  the  shore  of  the  ocean.  Descry  far  off 
that  gallant  ship  of  the  line,  joyously  plow- 
ing the  bosom  of  the  deep.  Her  "  star- 
spangled  banner,"  the  symbol  of  her  na- 
tionality, floats  proudly  in  the  breeze.  She 
encounters  a  foe,  sailing  under  a  different 
flag,  bearing  different  devices.  A  bloody 
action  begins.  Broadside  after  broadside 
is  given  and  received.  Her  oaken  hull 
trembles.  Carnage  and  death  rage  on  her 
deck.  Is  there  no  relief?  She  has  but  to 
strike  that  flag,  and  instantly  the   contest 


CHARACTERISED   BY    SPIRIT UALITT".        37 

shall  cease.  But  she  refuses  to  strike. 
The  flag  still  floats  on  high.  What  then  ? 
Does  she  contend  for  non-essentials  ?  for 
mere  devices  and  emblems  ?  for  the  quan- 
tity or  cut  of  the  linen  in  her  flag  ?  Who  is 
ignorant  that  she  regards  her  flag,  not  as 
indued  in  its  texture  or  form  with  a  latent 
or  mysterious  value,  hut  merely  as  the 
appointed  symbol  of  her  national  relations 
and  principles — that  these  relations  and 
principles,  not  the  flag  which  waves  from 
her  mast,  distinguish  her  from  her  rival — 
and  that  for  these,  and  these  alone,  she 
really  contends  ? 

Now  the  particular  religious  rite  which 
constitutes  the  universal  badge  of  our  com- 
munion, contains  no  latent,  no  mysterious 
value.  It  is  merely  the  gospel  flag,  ap- 
pointed of  heaven  as  the  distinctive  banner 
of  a  pure  Church,  the  true  symbol  of  her 
spiritual  relations  and  spiritual  principles. 

And  like  as  our  navy  is  expected  to  sus- 
4 


38  THE   PURE   CHURCH 

tain  untarnished  the  flag  of  our  country,  so 
we  endeavor  to  sustain  unmutilated  the 
distinctive  banner  of  our  Saviour.  But 
the  glorious  affinities  which  that  banner 
proclaims — affinities  to  Christ,  and  through 
him  to  his  people — these  are  our  rock  and 
our  fortress.  The  vital  truths  symbolized, 
truths  essential  to  the  purity  and  integrity 
of  Christianity,  these  are  our  joy  and  our 
crown. 

Yet,  would  to  God  that  all  his  dear  chil- 
dren in  the  great  family  of  the  redeemed, 
were  really  in  as  close  proximity  to  us,  as 
the  imputations  in  question  seem  to  imply ; 
that  not  a  veil,  ay,  not  a  shadow  were  lin- 
gering between  us !  "With  what  profound 
emotions  of  joy  unfeigned,  would  we  greet 
them !  Not  with  the  misgivings  of  hesita- 
ting Isaac,  would  we  doubtingly  ask,  "  Art 
thou  my  very  son  Esau?"  but  with  the 
yearning  heart  of  Isaac  assured,  we  would 
say  in  tones  of  tenderness,  "  Come  near, 


CHARACTERISED   BY   SPIRITUALITY.         39 

now,  and  kiss  me,  my  son."  "We  would 
throw  around  them  the  arms  of  our  affec- 
tion, clasp  them  to  our  swelling  bosoms, 
and  weep  upon  their  necks  a  great  while, 
as  Joseph  wept  over  his  once  estranged, 
but  then  reconciled  brethren.  "We  would 
hold  them,  and  not  let  them  go,  until  we 
had  brought  them  into  our  "  mother's 
house,  and  into  the  chamber  of  her  that 
conceived"  us.  Our  pensive  spirits, 
cheered  as  was  the  harassed  and  tempest- 
tossed  Apostle's,  when  his  brethren  "came 
to  meet  him  as  far  as  Appii  Forum,"  would 
"thank  God  and  take  courage." 

3.  We  discover,  in  the  light  of  our  sub- 
ject, the  appropriate  sphere  of  the  whole 
militant  church.  It  is  the  entire  field  of 
spiritual  truth,  duty,  privilege,  and  influ- 
ence. The  mechanical  construction  of  the 
eye,  denotes  that  it  is  formed  as  the  organ 
for  sight.     So  the  spiritual  construction  of 


40  THE    PURE    CHURCH 

the  Church  of  Christ,,  demonstrates  that  she 
is  formed  as  the  organ  for  all  things  "per- 
taining to  life  and  godliness."  Her  grand 
design,  worthy  of  the  combined  energies 
of  the  whole  host  of  heaven,  is  to  rescue  a 
lost  world ;  to  snatch  immortal  beings  from 
the  jaws  of  the  pit;  to  invest  them  with 
the  spotless  robe  of  the  righteousness  of 
Christ ;  guide  them  heavenward,  and  en- 
throne them  with  the  Lord  in  glory.  T 
conducting  this  godlike  enterprise,  she  be- 
gins "  where  Satan's  seat  is," — in  the  very- 
core  of  moral  turpitude, — the  individual 
heart.  From  the  deadly  Upas  of  depravity, 
which  thence  towers  toward  heaven,  other 
agencies  may  lop  off  here  and  there  a 
bough,  but  she,  divinely  commissioned, 
passes  on  directly  to  the  trunk,  and  with 
the  axe  of  truth,  hews  down  the  tree  and 
extirpates  the  roots.  The  spring  of  nox- 
ious waters  which  flows  forth  from  the 
soul,    and,   not    unlike    the    fountain    of 


CHARACTERISED   BY   SPIRITUALITY.        41 

Jericho  in  the  days  of  Elisha,  overspreads 
the  moral  soil  with  spiritual  sterility  and 
death,  other  agencies  may  divert  into  new, 
and  perhaps  subterraneous  channels ;  but 
from  the  cruse  of  the  gospel,  she  casts  into 
this  deadly  spring  the  healing  salt  of 
renewing  and  purifying  grace,  that  there 
shall  not  be  thence  any  more  sterility  or 
death. 

How  promising,  how  gladdening,  then,  is 
the  work  of  the  Church !  How  valuable 
beyond  all  price  !  "  He  who  converteth  a 
sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way,  shall  save 
a  soul  from  death,  and  hide  a  multitude  of 
sins."  How  acceptable  her  sacrifice  to 
God  by  Jesus  Christ !  How  well  approved 
in  heaven !  "  They  that  be  wise  shall 
shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament, 
and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness, 
as  the  stars  forever  and  ever."  "Who,  if 
not  effectually  enslaved  and  infatuated  by 
the  god  of  this  world,  would  not  aspire  to 
4* 


42  THE    PURE    CHURCH 

the  high  rank  of  "  a  living  stone,"  fit  to  be 
laid  in  the  walls  of  the  spiritual  temple  ? 
Who,  if  not  stultified  by  the  grand  De- 
ceiver, would  not  account  "  a  place  and  a 
name  in  the  Lord's  house,  better  than  sons 
and  daughters?"  What  tongue,  if  not 
wholly  palsied  by  sin,  would  not  emulate 
the  strains  of  the  bard  of  Israel,  and  sweetly 
sing,  "One  thing  have  I  desired  of  the 
Lord ;  that  will  I  seek  after ;  that  I  may 
dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  all  the  days 
of  my  life,  to  behold  the  beauty  of  the 
Lord,  and  to  inquire  in  his  temple?" 
What  individual  of  our  favored  race,  if 
nourishing  in  his  bosom  a  particle  of 
genuine  love  to  God,  would  not  gladly 
identify  himself  with  the  Church;  and, 
marshaled  among  her  militant  hosts,  reso- 
lutely come  "  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to 
the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty  ?" 
The  Church,  considered  not  only  as  the 
appointed   agent  of   God  for  conducting 


CHARACTERISED   BY   SPIRITUALITY.        43 

souls  to  glory,  but  even  as  the  effective 
means  for  purifying  and  blessing  the  world, 
is  entitled  to  universal  esteem  and  love. 
By  healing  the  fountain,  she  heals  the 
stream.  By  renewing  the  heart,  she 
renews  the  entire  individual  man.  By 
renovating  individual  after  individual,  she 
renovates  the  race.  "  Ye  are  the  light  of 
the  world."  "Ye  are  the  salt  of  the 
earth." 

Hence,  in  every  true  reformatory  enter- 
prise, she  may  rightfully  demand — and  if 
true  to  her  Head,  to  mankind  and  herself, 
will  really  demand,  and  unhesitatingly  as- 
sume— the  precedence  ?  An  engine  of  vast 
capacities,  placed  by  the  arm  of  Jehovah 
on  the  railway  to  the  city  of  the  Living 
God,  she  sends  forward  now  and  then, 
indeed,  some  little  hand-car  of  human  en- 
deavor to  clear  the  track ;  but  presently, 
impelled  by  a  potent,  though  invisible 
energy,    she    sweeps    majestically    along, 


44  THE   PURE   CHURCH 

drives  aside  her  petty  harbinger,  and  draws 
not  only  crowds  of  passengers,  but,  at- 
tached to  the  rear,  every  car  of  true  philan- 
thropy— a  long  and  stately  train  ! 

Let  not  the  sincere  friend  of  humanity, 
then,  whose  heart  glows  with  benevolent 
affection  for  the  ignorant,  the  despised  and 
the  oppressed,  be  insidiously  enticed,  in  an 
evil  hour,  to  join  in  the  insane  cry,  "  Down 
with  the  Church !" 

Let  no  man,  unless  his  heart  is  the  heart 
of  a  fiend,  gloat  over  her  imperfections, 
whether  fancied  or  real.  In  the  evening 
of  her  depression,  when  the  Lord  "  covers 
the  daughter  of  Zion  with  a  cloud,  and 
casts  down  from  heaven  unto  the  earth  the 
beauty  of  Israel,"  let  there  be  none  to 
"  clap  their  hands  and  hiss,  and  wag  their 
heads,"  and  tauntingly  ask,  "Is  this  the 
city  that  men  call  The  Perfection  of 
Beauty,  The  Joy  of  the  whole  Earth?" 
But  let  every  harp  be  hung  upon  the  wil- 


CHARACTERISED    BY   SPIRITUALITY.        45 

lows.  From  all  eyes  "  let  tears  run  down 
like  a  river."  From  every  heart  let  the 
sentiment  break  forth,  "If  I  forget  thee, 
O  Jerusalem,  let  my  light  hand  forget  her 
cunning.  If  I  do  not  remember  thee,  let 
my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth, 
if  I  prefer  not  Jerusalem  above  my  chief 
joy."  And  when,  with  the  progress  of 
her  nisrht-time,  the  cloud  of  her  covering 
begins  to  break  away,  revealing  in  her 
firmament  the  day-star  of  hope,  let  that 
brilliant  star  be  eagerly  hailed,  a3  the 
herald  of  the  auspicious  morning,  when 
her  animated  walls,  slowly  and  toilsomely 
built  up,  shall  be  carried  to  their  grand 
completion  ;  and  when,  by  the  right  hand 
of  the  Most  High,  the  head-stone  thereof 
shall  be  brought  forth;  while  all  worlds, 
transported  with  joy,  shall  swell  their 
mighty  shoutings  of  "  Grace,  grace,  unto 
it!" 

THE  END. 


A  PEDOBAl'TIST  CHURCH 

m  HOME 

FOE    A   BAPTIST. 

AN  ARGUMENT 

ADDRESSED  TO  THOSE  VTHO   ARE    BAPTISTS  TX    SENTIMENT. 

BIT     VTEO     CONIEMPLATE    RECEIVING    IMMERSION    FROM    PEDOBAPIISIS. 

OR  JOINING  WITH  THEM  IN  CHURCH  FEIIOWSHIP. 


BY    ROBERT    T.    MIDDLEDITCH, 

Pastor  of  the  Shrewsbury  Church,  Eedbank,  1*.  J. 


&£r.:2sr.:S 


PHILADELPHIA: 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

US  ARCH  STREET. 


A   PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 


NO    HOME    FOR    A    BAPTIST. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Should  a  reader  of  the  Bible,  unskilled  in 
the  controversies  of  the  age,  go  forth  on  the 
Sabbath  by  the  river  side,  and  see  a  minister, 
after  leading  the  solemn  devotions  of  a  large 
assemblage,  go  down  into  the  water,  and,  in  the 
hallowed  name  of  the  Trinity,  bury  a  fellow- 
being  in  baptism,  his  heart  would  be  naturally 
touched  with  the  solemn  beauty  of  the  scene. 
But  he  would  certainly  receive  a  very  unplea- 
sant impression  by  learning,  afterwards,  that  the 
act  in  which  the  administrator  had  engaged, 
was  performed  by  him,  not  from  a  belief  of  its 
having  any  peculiar  acceptability  with  God, 
but  in  order  to  satisfy  the  erring  conscience  of 
man.  He  would  be  still  more  surprised  if  in- 
formed that  the  candidate,  who  believed  obe- 
dience to  Christ  rendered  this  observance  impe- 

3 


4  A  PEDOBAPTIST    CHURCH 

rative.  had  needlessly  sought  the  services  of  an 
administrator  who,  so  far  from  personally  view- 
ing it  with  favor,  regarded  it  as  originating 
in  ignorance  or  weakness,  if  not  in  formality 
and  bigotry,  and  himself  neither  had  submitted, 
nor  would  submit  to  the  ordinance. 

The  plea  for  this  inconsistent  course,  by  both 
parties,  is  charity.  Christian  men  are  often 
willing  to  incur  odium  on  any  account  more 
readily  than  by  a  charge  of  uncharitableness  to 
the  opinions  of  others.  It  should,  therefore, 
occasion  no  surprise  that  in  the  excess  of  unre- 
gulated Christian  zeal,  some,  who  are  Baptists 
by  conviction,  are  willing  to  throw  the  mantle 
of  charity  over  their  unbaptized  brethren;  and 
thus,  while  hiding  the  supposed  nakedness  of 
their  faith,  not  only  flatter  themselves  in  their 
own  eyes,  but  obtain  great  estimation  with 
others  of  similar  opinions. 

On  the  same  plea  of  charity  to  a  "  weak  bro- 
ther," many  unimmersed  Pedobaptist  ministers 
consider  themselves  justified  in  administering 
baptism  contrary  to  their  own  views  of  proprie- 
ty. Paul  never  attained  to  such  a  charity  as 
this  course  of  procedure  indicates.  He  taught 
those  among  whom  he  had  labored,  to  abstain 


NO   HOME   FOR   A  BAPTIST.  5 

from  a  course  by  which  a  brother  "  stumbleth, 
or  is  offended,  or  is  made  weak;"  and  with  re- 
gard to  the  observance  or  non-observance  of 
certain  days,  he  says,  "  Let  every  man  be  fully 
persuaded  in  his  own  mind."  He,  however, 
knew  nothing  of  that  fallacious  charity,  which 
would  foster  a  brother's  delusion,  or  become  a 
partaker  of  it.  Abstinence,  from  respect  to  a 
brother's  conscience,  is  a  very  different  thing 
from  action.  When  we  go  beyond  the  bounds 
which  the  inspired  Apostle  prescribes,  so  far 
from  exhibiting  true  Christian  charity,  we  be- 
tray a  laxness  of  principle  which  must  be  high- 
ly offensive  to  the  Head  of  the  Church. 

All  Christians  ought  to  obey  the  Apostolic 
exhortation,  "  Let  every  one  of  us  please  his 
neighbor  for  his  good,  unto  edification."  This, 
however,  cannot  be  quoted  in  defence  of  an  ir- 
regular administration  of  immersion;  for  few 
ministers  who  reject  Baptist  sentiments  think 
there  is  anything  "good,"  or  tending  to  "edi- 
fication," in  the  act  of  a  believer's  being  "bu- 
ried with  Christ  in  baptism." 

If  the  writings  of  Pedobaptists  are  to  be  re- 
garded as  an  exponent  of  their  principles,  many 
of  them  believe  "  Sprinkling  the  only  mode  of 


6  A   PEDOBAPTIST    CHURCH 

Baptism."  The  Rev.  Dr.  Peters  has  lately  is- 
sued a  work  with  this  very  title.  Another,  with 
extraordinary  biblical  perceptions,  has  disco- 
vered that  "Baptists  can  produce  neither  ex- 
press command,  nor  an  undeniable  example  of 
baptism  by  immersion  in  the  Bible."  Not  a 
few,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  agree  with  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Murray,  in  his  opinion  of  immersion :  "  To 
insist  on  it,  is  like  Popery  in  this  respect — 
it  teaches  for  doctrines  the  commandments  of 
men." 

Such  writers,  no  doubt,  believe  immersion  a 
service  which  God  has  not  required  at  then* 
hands,  and- would  refuse  to  administer  the  or- 
dinance. Others,  however,  professing  precise- 
ly the  same  opinion,  engage  in  the  service ;  al- 
though, according  to  their  own  consciences, 
they  are  acting  in  a  similar  way  to  those  who 
were  guilty  of  offering  "strange  fire"  before  the 
Lord. 

One  writer,  whom  we  have  quoted,  has  re- 
corded his  opinion  of  immersion,  that  "with  too 
many  it  is  the  one  thing  needful."  Another 
writes,  "  the  native  tendency  of  the  doctrine  is 
to  superstition  and  abuse."  The  countenance 
and  high  honors  which  have  been  awarded  them 


NO   HOME   FOR  A   BAPTIST.  7 

by  their  brethren,  and  that  portion  of  the  reli- 
gious press  under  Pedobaptist  influence,  affords 
reason  for  the  belief,  however  unwelcome  to 
Baptists,  that  these  sentiments  are  entertained 
by  the  majority  of  Pedobaptists.  To  adminis- 
ter immersion  with  such  views,  so  far  from  be- 
ing in  accordance  with  Christian  liberality,  is 
positive  wickedness.  As  well  might  a  Protes- 
tant pastor  endeavor  to  relieve  a  burdened  soul 
by  extreme  unction,  as  Y>j  thus  conniving  at 
immersion,  and  taking  an  active  part  in  what 
he  holds  is  not  only  a  "  superstition  and  abuse," 
but  one  which  tends  to  foster  "  arrogance  and 
exclusion." 

If  any  man  is  not  satisfied  that  immersion  is 
of  Divine  authority,  he  must  believe  that  it  is 
an  invention  of  men.  In  this  case  there  is  aw- 
ful sacrilege  in  administering  the  ordinance. 
The  use  of  "the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  in  an  observance 
which  it  is  thought  the  Sacred  Three  do  not  re- 
gard with  complacency,  would  fill  any  truly 
Christian  mind  with  horror.  "Whatsoever  is 
not  of  faith  is  sin." 

A  sincere  Pedobaptist  minister  in  sprinkling 
a  child,  upholds  an  observance  in  which  he  has 


8  A   PEDOBAPTIST    CHURCH 

faith.  Although  a  Baptist  may  consider  his 
defence  of  the  rite  altogether  insufficient  to  jus- 
tify it,  he  will  yet  respect  him  for  carrying  his 
belief  into  practice  in  a  prayerful  and  orderly 
manner.  Far  different,  however,  is  the  effect 
likely  to  be  produced  when  that  minister  re- 
nounces what  he  believes  the  true  or  preferable 
mode  of  baptism,  for  what  he  regards  as  but  a 
pernicious  form. 

In  baptism,  a  believer  presents  a  penitential, 
grateful,  and  confiding  surrender  of  himself  to 
Jesus  Christ.  A  glaring  inconsistency  is  evi- 
dent when  a  servant  of  the  Saviour  makes  him- 
self an  instrument  in  the  solemn  dedication  of 
a  soul  to  his  Lord,  without  any  conviction  on 
his  part  of  the  obligation,  propriety,  or  accept- 
ableness  of  the  service.  In  the  whole  transac- 
tion he  is  an  automaton.  In  pronouncing  the 
form  employed  in  baptism  he  degrades  himself 
as  a  minister  of  Christ.  Instead  of  appearing 
as  the  living  minister  of  a  living  faith,  he  acts 
in  a  way  which  does  little  to  "magnify"  his  of- 
fice, for  he  is  scarcely  more  to  be  accounted  of 
in  the  spiritual  house  than  the  Organ  in  the 
material — that  of  an  auxiliary  to  a  worship  in 
which  no  interest  is  felt.     The  difference  is  cer- 


NO   HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  9 

tainly  in  favor  of  the  latter  instrument.  The 
vast  pipes  which  are  under  the  direction  of  man 
will  give  forth  a  harmony  of  sounds  which 
causes  the  breast  to  heave  with  emotion,  and 
throws  a  subduing  spell  over  the  soul;  while  the 
performance  of  him  into  whom  God  has  breath- 
ed the  breath  of  life,  will  only  awaken  emotions 
of  contempt  or  pity.  Far  better  will  the  life- 
less Organ  harmonize  with  its  employment,  than 
will  the  soul  of  the  minister  with  the  office  he 
assumes. 

"Why  then  should  a  Christian  believer,  who 
desires  to  be  baptized  after  the  example  of  his 
Lord,  in  order  "to  fulfill  all  righteousness," 
make  application  to  such  a  minister  for  immer- 
sion ?  Why  thus  invite  him  to  sin  by  perform- 
ing an  act  in  which  he  has  no  faith,  or  in  which, 
at  best,  he  is  a  mere  automaton,  the  passive  in- 
strument of  another's  will,  in  administering  the 
most  solemn  act  of  Christian  worship  under 
Heaven  ? 


10  A  PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 


CHAPTER  I. 

PEDOBAPTIST  CHURCH  RELATIONSHIP  ON  THE 
PART  OF  IMMERSED  BELIEVERS, INCOMPATIBLE 
WITH   NEW  TESTAMENT  REQUIREMENTS. 

"Ye  are  not  your  own,"  is  one  of  the  first 
truths  which  a  ransomed  sinner  must  recognize 
upon  his  adoption  into  the  family  of  God, 
Bought  with  a  price  which  cannot  be  computed 
by  arithmetical  rules,  henceforth  he  is  to  set 
the  Lord  always  before  him,  and  all  his  actions 
must  be  subservient  to  the  will  and  glory  of 
God.  He  is  not,  therefore,  at  liberty  to  merge 
himself  into  a  body  of  Christians  on  any  consi- 
derations which  have  reference  merely  to  his 
present  enjoyment. 

The  fact  that  under  the  ministry  of  any  de- 
nomination he  was  first  awakened  to  the  truth, 
does  not  make  clear  his  duty  as  to  the  church 
relationship  he  should  form.  Gratitude  to  those 
to  whose  labors  we  are  indebted,  may  give  a 
bias  for  church  relationship;  but  the  choice 
which  is  grateful  to  our  own  feelings,  and  seem 


NO   HOME  FOR  A  BAPTIST.  11 

ingly  proper,  must  be  surrendered  when  it 
conflicts  with  the  requirements  of  the  Divine 
word. 

Many  a  Christian  has  been  induced  to  make 
a  sacrifice  of  his  convictions  to  his  pleasure; 
but  he  has  afterwards  learned,  by  a  course  of 
/painful  experience,  that  happiness  cannot  be  ob- 
tained when  it  is  sought  by  the  sacrifice  of  duty. 
The  fraternal  greetings  and  fellowship  of  love, 
to  which  he  is  introduced,  may  cause  a  tempo- 
rary oblivion  of  the  sentiments,  in  which  he  dif- 
fers from  those  with  whom  he  is  associated. 
But  the  period  will  arrive,  when  the  remem- 
brance that  the  solemn  act  of  initiation  by  which 
he  entered  into  fellowship  with  them,  was  one 
whose  significance  they  do  not  perceive,  will 
convince  him  that  he  is  not  in  his  right  place. 
Whatever  instruction  he  may  derive  from  the 
pulpit,  he  will  scarcely  feel  at  ease  when  such 
opinions  as  we  have  quoted,  of  immersion  and 
those  who  practice  it,  are  advanced.  He  has 
little  reason  to  complain ;  for  frankness  is  com- 
mendable in  the  minister  of  any  denomination ; 
yet  this  consideration  will  not  afford  relief  to 
his  wounded  feelings.  "  How  can  two  walk  to- 
gether except  they  be  agreed?" 


12  A  PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 

1.  One  guiding  principle,  necessary  always 
to  be  remembered  is,  that  Divine  ordinances 
ought  to  be  observed  in  accordance  with  Divine 
teaching.  Matt,  xxviii.  19. 

In  Apostolic  times,  those  who  "gladly  re- 
ceived the  word,  were  baptized,"  that  is  to  say, 
were  regularly  immersed,  in  order  to  be  added 
to  the  church.  Acts  ii.  41.  Here  they  were  to 
be  taught  to  "observe  all  things  whatsoever" 
Christ  has  commanded.  But  no  man  is  justi- 
fied in  uniting  with  a  church  in  which  member- 
ship varies  from  what  it  was  in  the  Pentecostal 
church ;  nor  is  he  at  liberty  to  place  himself  in 
circumstances  in  which  he  cannot  as  freely  ut- 
ter his  sentiments  on  baptism,  as  could  every 
one  who  received  the  ordinance  on  that  memo- 
rable day. 

That  society,  however,  with  which  a  per- 
son irregularly  immersed  intends  to  unite,  far 
from  requiring  his  immersion,  would  feel  best 
satisfied  by  its  omission.  It  is  not  a  prerequi- 
site to  their  fellowship  or  communion. 

The  candidate,  immersed  by  a  Pedobaptist, 
believes  immersion  the  Scriptural  law  of  bap- 
tism, and,  it  follows,  believes  that  the  members 
of  the  churches  planted  by  the  Apostles  were 


NO   HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  13 

immersed.  It  is  evident  that  lie  must  have  the 
most  faulty  views  of  the  relation  of  baptism  to 
other  Christian  privileges,  to  think  of  joining 
any  other.  Although  baptized  to  profess  his 
allegiance  to  Christ,  the  act  is  not  performed 
with  a  view  to  union  with  a  church  composed 
of  those  who  have  submitted  to  the  same  divine 
observance,  but  chiefly  of  persons  who  repudi- 
ate it  altogether.  "When  he  shall  come  to  know 
the  will  of  the  Lord  more  perfectly,  he  will  see 
that  whatever  superiority  he  might  have  in  his 
conscientious  observance  of  immersion,  his  want 
of  this  knowledge  greatly  detracted  from  the 
value  of  the  service. 

2.  Another  guiding  principle  for  a  disciple 
of  Christ  to  observe  is,  that  however  important 
his  end,  he  is  not  at  liberty  to  sanction  any  sub- 
version  of  Gospel  ordinances.  In  other  words, 
he  is  not  at  liberty  to  "  do  evil  that  good  may 
come."  Rom.  iii.  8. 

The  believer  who  after  immersion  unites  with 
a  Pedobaptist  church,  may  find  an  opiate  for 
his  conscience  in  the  thought,  that  by  this  union 
he  manifests  his  love  for  all  who  love  the  Sa- 
viour. If,  however,  he  believes  the  primitive 
Christians  were  immersed,  whence  did  he  ob- 


14  A   PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 

tain  a  commission  to  sanction  a  departure  from 
the  original  institution?*  Believers  have  no 
authority  to  annul,  or  render  inoperative  a  sin- 
gle article  of  the  constitution  of  Christ's  king- 
dom. God  converts  men  to  obey,  not  to  legis- 
late, 

3.  No  Christian,  however  trifling  he  may 
deem  his  influence,  is  at  liberty  to  favor  mea- 
sures which  detract  from  the  spiritual  aspect 
of  Christianity.  John  xviii.  36. 

Pedobaptists  pursue  a  course  which  tends  to 
obliterate  the  distinction  between  the  church 
and  the  world.  An  eminent  Congregation- 
alistj"  has  truly  observed:  "From  the  manner 
in  which  some  have  spoken  and  written,  one  is 
almost  tempted  to  imagine  their  notion  of  a 


*  A  lamented  writer  (Robert  Hall),  who  directed 
some  of  the  greatest  efforts  of  his  massive  intellect 
against  scriptural  terms  of  communion,  was  asked  for 
a  New  Testament  precedent  for  the  course  he  advo- 
cated. "  You  should  not  ask  for  one,  Sir.  You  should  not 
ask  for  one,"  was  his  reply;  "they  were  all  Baptists  in 
those  days,  Sir ;  but  a  new  case  has  arisen  now."  If 
however,  no  new  rules  can  be  found  for  the  "new  cases' 
which  human  misjudgment  developes,  we  must  be  satis- 
fied that  it  is  best  to  obey  the  teaching  of  the  New 
Testament. 

t  The  Rev.  Dr.  Wardlaw,  of  Glasgow. 


NO   HOME   FUR   A   BAPTIST.  15 

Visible  church  to  be,  that  of  a  body  as  different 
as  it  can  be  rendered  from  the  invisible, — the 
latter,  of  course,  meaning  those  whose  hearts, 
which  cannot  be  seen  by  man,  are  right  in  the 
eight  of  God.  Now  instead  of  this,  the  aim 
evidently  ought  to  be,  to  bring  the  visible,  as 
far  as  possible,  to  identity  with  the  invisible, — 
that  is,  to  make  the  visible  a  community  of 
those  only  whose  rectitude  of  heart  in  the  sight 
of  God  is  made  apparent,  or  visible  to  men,  in 
their  characters;  and  where  the  exceptions  are 
the  result  of  mistake,  not  of  open-eyed  in- 
tention." 

Now,  what  tends  to  efface  the  distinction  be 
tween  the  world  and  the  visible  church  so  much 
as  Infant  Baptism?  The  pernicious  dogma, 
that  "  the  children  of  professing  Christians  are 
already  in  the  church,"  does  more  than  any- 
thing else  to  hide  the  spirituality  of  God's  king- 
dom. "  Infant  Baptism  defeats  the  design  of 
Christian  baptism,  and  makes  the  ordinance 
the  reverse  of  what  it  is  intended  to  be, — it  bap- 
tizes the  world  instead  of  baptizing  the  church. 
Infant  baptism  baptizes  the  world,  but  it  never 
baptizes  a  disciple  of  Christ.  Some  who  are 
baptized  in  infancy  may  afterwards  be  convert- 


16  A   PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 

ed,  and  become  the  disciples  of  Christ ;  but  this 
is  in  no  way  denoted  by  their  baptism  in  infan- 
cy— the  unconverted  are  as  much  baptized  as 
they  are.  In  all  countries  where  infant  baptism 
prevails  there  are  more  baptized  worldly  people. 
than  there  are  baptized  Christians.  The  god 
of  this  world  has  more  baptized  subjects  than  the 
King  of  Zion."* 

4.  No  Christian  should  unite  with  a  church 
where  baptism  is,  in  his  own  opinion,  degraded 
and  subverted. 


*  One  of  the  missionaries  of  the  Maryland  Union 
Association,  writes  thus  of  his  field  of  labor  in  that 
State:  "Upon  examination  I  found  there  was  very  lit- 
tle '  world'  left — in  other  words,  the  people  were  nearly 
all  members  of  the  church,  made  so  by  infant  sprink- 
ling. This  practice  hinders  the  Gospel;  as  I  have 
found  by  experience,  the  idea  possessing  the  minds  of 
such  people  that  something  has  been  done  for  them  so 
that  they  would  somehow  get  to  heaven." 

This  hindrance  to  the  Gospel  has  often  been  seen  and 
lamented,  by  pious  Pedobaptists  themselves.  Many 
testimonies  might  be  cited*  but  let  a  single  sentence 
from  Pascal  tell  the  fearful  truth.  In  speaking  of  the 
effect  of  infant  baptism  in  his  own  Church,  that  emi- 
nent man  observes:  "  The  course  which  she  [the  Church) 
has  adopted  for  her  children's  safety,  becomes  the  almost 
certain  occasion  of  their  ruin." — See  Pascal's  Thoughts, 
Am.  Ed.  1829,  p.  251. 

J.    N.    B 


NO   HOME    FOR   A    BAPTIST.  ll 

In  the  beginning,  baptism  was  a  voluntary 

and  personal  profession  of  attachment  and  sur- 
render to  Christ.  Of  this  aspect  it  is  entirely 
despoiled  by  infant  baptism.  If  the  views  of 
those  who  adhere  to  this  observance  prevailed, 
such  baptisms  as  are  recorded  in  the  Xew  Tes- 
tament would  be  rare  indeed.  Should  a  Chris- 
tian of  the  Apostolic  age  now  return  to  the 
earth,  and  witness  the  ceremony  which  some- 
times takes  place  in  edifices  devoted  to  the  wor- 
ship of  God,  would  he  imagine  that  anything 
so  unlike  the  primitive  practice  deserves  to 
be  called  baptism  ?  When  immersed  belie- 
vers unite  with  those  whose  only  claim  to 
be  considered  baptized  is,  that  they  were 
"sprinkled  in  infancy,"  though  they  may  think 
thus  to  manifest  their  love  to  all  the  members 
of  the  so-called  visible  church,  they,  in  fact, 
countenance  a  fearful  prostitution  of  Christian 
baptism.  Of  its  extent  they  cannot  be  igno- 
rant. The  abodes  of  profligacy  and  intempe- 
rance abound  with  those  who  in  infancy  were 
baptized  into  the  "visible  church,"  who  are  not 
even  visible  believers,  but  visibly  those  "  whose 
end  is  destruction,  ....  and  whose  glory  is  in 
then  shame." 

2* 


18  A   PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 

It  may  not  have  been  the  "  open-eyed  inten- 
tion" of  those  who  gave  them  the  rite,  but  it  13 
so  frequent  a  result  that  they  must  suffer  from 
a  fearful  obtuseness  who  do  not  perceive  the 
impropriety  of  thus  degrading  an  institution  of 
Christ.  If,  as  its  friends  themselves  admit, 
there  is  no  express  authority  nor  clearly  proved 
example  of  infant  baptism  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, are  baptized  believers  justified  in  joining 
"hand  in  hand"  with  it?  No  Christian  ought 
to  identify  himself  with  a  custom  he  is  un- 
willing or  unable  to  defend.* 

5.  In  a  gospel  church,  all  baptized  members, 
against  whom  no  charge  can  be  sustained,  ought 
to  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  table.  Acts  ii.  41, 
42;  1  Cor.  x.  16,17. 


*  Assertions  are  far  easier  than  proof.  A  large  and 
expensive  volume  was  lately  published,  bearing  the 
boastful  title,  "Infant  Baptism  a  Scriptural  Service." 
As  far  as  demonstration  is  concerned,  the  title  page 
is  the  vestibule  of  "airy  nothingness;"  and  after  pass- 
ing through  more  than  five  hundred  pages,  the  best 
proof  afforded  that  Infant  Baptism  is  a  "  Scriptural  ser- 
vice" is  the  assertion,  that  those  who  deny  baptism  to 
babes  "trample  upon  the  strongest  probabilities."  Thus 
far,  has  the  "  Professor  of  Sacred  Literature  for  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  Royal  College,  Belfast,"  fulfilled  his  pro-, 
mise  to  those  who  have  purchased  his  costly  volume. 


NO   HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  19 

Pedobaptists  consider  sprinkling  in  infancy, 
baptism.  On  their  own  grounds,  they  are  in- 
consistent. It  was  not  the  custom  of  the  Apos- 
tles to  refuse  to  commune  at  the  Lord's  table 
with  any  whom  they  had  baptized;  but  thou- 
sands are  called  baptized  every  year  now,  who 
never  will  be  admitted  to  this  privilege.  In- 
stead of  being  " baptized,"  and  then  "breaking 
bread,"  according  to  the  Apostles'  doctrine  and 
practice,  they  are  not  permitted  to  touch  the 
elements.  The  very  lips  which  pronounce  them 
baptized,  fence  them  from  the  Lord's  table, 
without  trial  or  charge.  Though  said  to  be  "  in 
the  Church,"  and  never  in  any  way  excluded 
from  its  privileges,  they  are  treated  as  heathen 
and  infidels.*     Most  righteously,  we  admit,  are 

*  An  instance,  in  point,  is  now  before  our  eves.  In 
the  "Presbyterian  Sabbath  School  Visitor,"  Philadel- 
phia, Feb.  1,  1851,  the  following  article  appears  as  the 
first  under  the  editorial  head. 

"children  of  the  church. 

'Do  you  belong  to  the  church?'  one  of  the  schol- 
ars asked  another,  on  the  way  home  from  school  last 
Sabbath  day. 

'To  be  sure  I  do/  was  the  quick  reply,  'and  so  do 
you/ 

'0  no,  I  do  not/  the  other  said,  'and  I  did  not 
know  that  you  did/ 

'Yes,  we  are  both  members  of  the  church,  having 


20  A   PEDOBAPTIST    CHURCH 

they  prevented  from  taking  in  their  hands  the 
emblems  of  the  Saviour's  passion;  but  most  un- 


bcen  born  of  parents  who  are  members,  and  having 
been  baptized  in  our  infancy.  But  I  wish  you  would 
hear  what  the  teacher  has  to  say;  he  is  just  ahead  of 
us.' 

"  They  overtook  him,  and  stated  the  case  with  much 
freedom  and  simplicity.  He  was  glad  to  explain  to 
them  as  well  as  he  could, the  relation  they  sustained  to 
the  church  of  Christ. 

1  The  church  is  made  up  of  those  who  believe  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  their  children.  Your  parents 
are  believers,  and  as  members  of  the  church  you  have 
been  baptized;  but  you  are  not  admitted  to  the  commu- 
nion of  the  Lord's  Supper,  until  you  are  prepared  to 
say  that  you  love  him,  and  trust  in  him  for  the  pardon 
of  your  sins,  and  the  salvation  of  your  souls.  The  vows 
of  God  are  upon  you.  It  is  your  first  duty  to  repent 
of  your  sins,  and  to  believe  in  that  Saviour  who  died 
for  you.  If  you  grow  up  in  sin,  you  are  more  wicked 
than  those  who  have  not  enjoyed  such  blessings  as  you, 
and  if  you  perish  in  your  sins,  your  punishment  will 
be  much  greater  than  that  of  the  heathen,  or  of  the 
children  of  wicked  parents  who  live  around  you/ 

"The  children  were  very  thoughtful  as  they  walked 
along,  and  the  teacher  added  a  few  words  as  they  part- 
ed, begging  them  to  remember  that,  as  members  of  the 
church,  their  account  would  be  a  dreadful  one  to  give, 
if  they  refused  to  love  the  Saviour." 

The  above  instance  is,  perhaps,  the  best  use  which  i? 
ever  made  of  the  doctrine  of  infant  church  member- 
ship. But  apart  from  its  utter  want  of  Scriptural  au- 
thority, see  what  a  character  it  gives  to  Christian 
churches — a  majority  of  their  members  excluded  from 
communion  as  unregenerate  or  profane ! 

J.   N.   B. 


NO   HOME   FOR  A  BAPTIST.  21 

righteously  were  they  baptized.  The  one  ordi- 
nance belongs  not  more  to  Christ's  disciples 
than  the  other.  Those  who  have  no  claim  to 
the  children  s  bread,  can  have  no  claim  to  the 
children  s  baptism. 

Why  was  this  sacrilege  committed?  Why 
was  Christ  thus  dishonored  by  his  ministers  ? 
How  can  a  believer  dare  to  sanction  such  a 
prostitution  of  an  ordinance  which  Christ  in- 
tended only  for  that  people  whom  he  should 
6ave  from  their  sins  ?  We  should  grieve  to  see 
a  young  lady  with  a  cross  on  her  bosom,  enter- 
ing the  theatre  or  the  ball-room,  for  we  feel 
that  such  a  token  should  not  be  carried  into  the 
haunts  of  worldly  pleasure.  But  how  much 
more  may  we  mourn  to  know  that  thousands  go 
down  into  hell  who  have  been  pronounced  bap- 
tized. 

How  much  better  is  the  course  of  Baptist 
churches,  who  honestly  aim  "to  bring  the  visi- 
ble, as  far  as  possible,  to  identity  with  the  invi- 
sible," and  therefore  so  observe  baptism  accord- 
ing to  the  Scriptures,  that  they  can  make  com- 
munion in  the  Lord's  Supper  co-extensive  with 
it;  except  in  those  rare  cases,  in  which,  in  accord- 
ance with  apostolic  precept,  they   "withdraw 


22  A   PEDOBAPTIST    CHURCH 

themselves  from  every  brother  that  walketh 
disorderly."  2  Thess.  iii.  6. 

6.  The  sincerity  of  those  who  hold  error, 
though  it  may  claim  tenderness,  is  no  reason 
why  any  Christian  should  give  it  his  fellowship. 
Rom.  x.  2,  3. 

They  do  not  forfeit  our  personal  esteem,  but 
their  error  is  none  the  less  to  be  deprecated. 
On  the  plea  of  sincerity  the  followers  of  Baal 
deserve  regard.  A  Christian  martyr  could 
scarcely  show  more  willingness  to  suffer,  than 
they  did  in  their  self-inflicted  tortures.  Before 
his  conversion,  Paul  was  sincere  in  opposing 
the  gospel  of  Christ.  Who  are  now  more  sin- 
cere than  Romanists  ? 

If  the  lack  of  light  or  reflection  is  considered 
to  detract  from  the  force  of  these  parallels,  we 
may  ask  where  can  men  be  found  more  sincere 
than  literary  Unitarians,  or  contemplative  Swe- 
denborgians  ?  No  Christian,  no  church  has  au- 
thority to  fellowship  error,  whether  it  be  the 
error  of  an  individual  or  of  thousands.  How 
can  baptized  Christians  exhibit  a  more  glaring 
defection  from  New  Testament  principles  than 
by  sanctioning  infant  baptism  ?  But  this  they 
do  when  they  unite  with  those  who  ground  their 


NO   HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  23 

right  to  Christian  privileges  on  the  fact  that 
they  were  sprinkled  in  infancy. 

Before  showing  a  fellowship  for  this  depart- 
ure from  the  Truth  of  God,  the  candidate  should 
inquire  how  many  inventions  of  men  may  be 
adopted  by  a  body  of  professed  Christians  with- 
out losing  their  right  to  be  called  a  Church  of 
Christ  ?  If  the  basin  may  be  admitted,  is  there 
not  room  for  the  Confessional?  It  has  the  same 
parentage,  and  equal  scriptural  authority.  A 
Romish  priest,  with  the  passage,  "  Confess  your 
faults  one  to  another,"  (James  v.  16,)  will  make 
a  far  better  case  for  Auricular  Confession  from 
the  New  Testament,  than  a  Protestant  minister 
for  Infant  Baptism. 

The  tendency  of  the  principles  here  laid  down 
we  are  neither  desirous  to  disguise  nor  evade. 
Consistently  followed  out,  they  limit  those  who 
hold  them  to  communion  at  the  Lord's  table 
with  none  but  immersed  believers.  To  some 
this  appears  uncharitable.  The  often  answered 
inquiry  is  reiterated,  "It  is  the  Lord's  table; 
why  do  you  exclude  any  of  his  disciples?" 
The  reply  of  a  scriptural  Christian  is  founded 
on  the  fact  that  it  is  the  Lord's  table.  Christ 
is  the  only  Lawgiver  for  his  churches.     It  i> 


24  A   PEDOBAPTTST    CHURCH 

treason  to  the  King  of  Zion  to  intrude  upon  his 
prerogative.  The  trust  which  he  has  commit- 
ted to  his  churches  they  are  not  at  liberty  to 
violate.  It  is  to  be  their  aim  to  keep  his  table 
as  He  left  it ,  "till  he  come."  If  none  but  im- 
mersed believing  guests  found  a  place  there 
when  he  was  on  earth,  who  shall  annul  his 
laws  ?  When  the  hand  of  fellowship  must  be 
the  "hand  of  the  betrayer,"  who  shall  dare  to 
extend  it  ?  We  have  no  record  of  any  persons 
"breaking  bread"  in  the  Pentecostal  church, 
who  had  not  "gladly  received  the  word"  and 
been  "baptized."  And  this  is  all  that  Baptist 
churches  require  now.  They  have  raised  no 
bar  to  communion.  They  can  throw  none  down. 
They  do  not  refuse  to  receive  any  disciple  who 
i3  willing  to  enter  on  the  same  footing  as  those 
already  incorporated  in  the  body  of  Christ.  Of 
the  Supper  of  the  Lord,  like  the  gospel  feast, 
they  can  say, 

"  None  are  excluded  thence,  but  those 
Who  do  themselves  exclude ; 
Welcome  the  learned  and  polite, 
The  ignorant  and  rude." 

Let  our  brethren  be  just.     Baptists  are  not 
alone  in  restricting  communion  at  the  Lord's 


NO   HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  25 

table  to  their  own  membership.  Large  bodies 
of  Pedobaptists  do  the  same.*  A  single  in- 
stance here  may  suffice.  The  Rev.  John  N. 
M'Leod,  D.  D.,  thus  explains  the  position  of 
the  ''Covenanters."  "  On  the  subject  of  sa- 
cramental communion,  the  principles  of  the 
church  are,  that  such  communion  is  the  most 
solemn,  intimate,  and  perfect  fellowship  that 
Christians  can  enjoy  with  God  and  one  ano- 
ther; that  when  Christians  are  associated  to- 
gether in  a  church  state,  under  a  definite  creed, 
communion  in  the  sacraments  involves  an  ap- 
probation of  the  principles  of  that  creed ;  and 
that  as  the  church  is  invested  with  authority 
which  she  is  bound  to  exercise,  to  keep  the 
ordinances  pure  and  entire,  sacramental  com- 
munion is  not  to  be  extended  to  those  who  do 
not  approve  the  principles  of  the  particular 
church,  or  submit  themselves  to  her  authority. 
In  maintaining,  these  principles,  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church  does  not  design  to  un- 
church any  other  religious  denomination,  or 
deny  the  Christianity  of  its  members.     She  re- 


*  Ample  proof  of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  works  of 
Howell,  Curtis,  or  Remington  on  Communon. 

3 


26  A  PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 

cognizes  the  validity  of  the  ordinances  of  all 
Christian  communities  who  hold  the  Divine 
Head,  and  the  plenary  inspiration  of  his  word. 
She  rejoices  to  know  that  these  contain  many 
of  the  saints  of  God,  who  have  fellowship  with 
him  and  with  one  another  at  the  table  of  the 
Lord,  and  she  is  willing  to  co-operate  with  them 
to  the  extent  of  her  ability,  in  promoting  the 
common  Christianity.  But  she  does  not  feel 
at  liberty  to  allow  every  man  to  be  the  judge 
of  his  own  qualification  for  sealing  ordinances, 
to  dispense  these  ordinances  to  such  as  do  not 
assent  to  her  religious  principles,  or  whom  she 
could  not  submit  to  her  discipline  were  they 
found  violating  their  Christian  obligations." 

In  most  respects  the  ground  here  taken  is 
that  which  the  Baptist  denomination  occupies. 
If  a  Presbyterian  can  advance  arguments  which 
relieve  him  from  odium,  in  declining  church 
communion  with  those  who  have  received  the 
same  baptism  as  himself,  surely  these  arguments 
have  accumulated  force  when  applied  by  a 
Baptist  to  the  case  of  those  who,  in  his  view, 
favor  an  entire  subversion  of  Christian  ordi- 
nances. 

The  objections  which  are  made  against  this 


NO  HOME  FOR  A   BAPTIST.  27 

scriptural  and  consistent  communion  are  not 
always  made  in  sincerity.  Many  persons  who 
"illiberally  contend  for  liberality,"  and  indulge 
in  multiplied  censures  with  respect  to  Baptist 
exclusiveness,  will  pass  an  edifice  in  which  a 
church  assembles  with  whom  they  might  com- 
mune, without  manifesting  the  least  desire  to 
show  their  fellowship  with  them  at  the  Lord's 
table.  Such  inconsistency  can  only  be  account- 
ed for  by  the  fact  that,  like  our  first  parents 
under  temptation,  they  desire  what  is  forbid- 
den, and  forbidden,  too,  by  the  same  authority. 
That  authority  shields  us  from  the  charge  of 
sectarianism. 

Yet,  let  no  one  imagine  that  there  is  any- 
thing in  itself  pleasant,  in  the  stand  which 
Baptists  feel  compelled  to  take.  Only  alle- 
giance to  the  King  of  Zion  could  keep  them 
there.  It  would  be  far  more  pleasant,  could 
they  with  a  clear  conscience,  cordially  merge 
themselves  with  the  rest  of  the  Christian  church. 
But  the  torch  of  love  cannot  be  applied  to 
the  sacrifice  of  duty.  That  is  a  false  libe- 
rality which,  for  the  sake  of  union,  would  resign 
the  positive  commands  of  Truth.  The  desire 
for  association  is  not  less  powerful  in  our  hearts 


28  A   PEDOBAPTIST    CHURCH 

than  in  the  hearts  of  others,  but  it  cannot  anni- 
hilate our  obligations.  The  principles  which 
guided  the  Apostles,  we  may  safely  follow  whi- 
thersoever they  lead.  "  Once  right,  they  are 
for  ever  right.  Anywhere  right,  they  are 
everywhere  right.  They  keep  a  course  like 
the  luminaries  of  heaven.  They  witness  against 
the  wrong-doer.  Their  straight  line  exposes 
the  contrast  of  the  crooked  generation.  They 
constitute  a  standard  of  appeal,  amidst  the  ca- 
prices of  fashion  and  the  meannesses  of  com- 
promise. They  stand  as  a  sea-mark,  against 
which  the  waves  only  dash  themselves  to  foam." 
Instead  of  forming  church  relationships, 
where  Christ's  authority  must  be  trifled  with, 
far  preferable  is  the  conduct  of  the  disciple 
who,  not  fearing  the  misconception  of  his  mo- 
tives, is  able  to  say,  "I  dwell  among  mine  own 
people."  A  few  years  since  a  Christian  man, 
whose  early  training  and  predilections  were  all 
in  favor  of  infant  sprinkling,  was  encouraged  to 
make  a  thorough  examination  of  the  Scriptures 
on  baptism,  by  hearing  a  minister  remark  that 
a  immersion  was  not  so  much  as  named  in  the 
New  Testament."  Prayerful  study  made  i' 
evident  to  his  mind  that  infant  sprinkling  was 


NO   HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  29 

the  invention  of  man,  and  the  immersion  of  be- 
lievers the  only  Christian  baptism.  On  his  re- 
turn from  being  baptized  by  a  Baptist  minister, 
the  Pedobaptist  minister,  whose  labors  he  had 
previously  greatly  valued,  waited  upon  him,  and 
in  the  course  of  conversation  remarked,  "Well, 
now  I  hope  you  are  satisfied,  and  will  sit  down 
with  us  and  make  yourself  happy."  His  reply 
was,  "No,  I  am  now  more  unhappy  in  your 
connexion  than  before,  and  cannot  continue 
with  a  church  which  I  conscientiously  believe 
to  be  in  error ;  for  I  am  now  a  Baptist  in  prin- 
ciple and  practice,  and  intend  to  carry  out  my 
belief."  Christians  of  any  denomination  would 
honor  a  man  who  thus  preserves  his  fidelity  to 
his  convictions,  and  lifts  up  his  testimony  for 
Truth. 

The  bitter  consequences  of  the  opposite 
course  will  more  clearly  appear  in  the  ensuing 
chapter. 


3* 


30  A   PEDOBAPTIST    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  II. 

IMMERSED  BELIEVERS  IN  UNITING  WITH  PEDO- 
BAPTIST CHURCHES  DISHONOR  THEIR  OWN 
PRINCIPLES,  AND  TAKE  PART  IN  THEIR  OWN 
DEGRADATION. 

Truth  is  a  costly  article,  and  when  a  Chris- 
tian has  bought  it,  he  is  not  at  liberty  to  hide 
or  sell  it.  Prov.  xxiii.  23.  He  is  but  a  trus- 
tee. It  is  his  duty  to  pass  it  on,  as  he  received 
it,  to  bless  the  world.  An  immersed  Christian, 
in  forming  church  relations  with  Pedobaptists, 
sacrifices  a  portion  of  the  Truth.  He  dishonors 
the  principles  he  professes,  and  after  all  his 
steadfastness,  in  adhering  to  immersion  as  the 
law  of  Christ,  shows  a  very  poor  estimate  of  it 
indeed. 

1.  One  condition  of  his  membership  in  a 
Pedobaptist  church,  sometimes  expressed  but 
always  implied,  is  silence  on  the  subject  of 
baptism. 

Such  persons  are  not  at  liberty  to  impair  tne 
comfort  of  their  fellow-members  by  awakening 


NO   HOME   FOR  A   BAPTIST.  31 

in  their  minds  any  doubt  as  to  whether  they 
have  been  baptized.  The  Apostle  enforced  the 
obligations  to  holiness  from  the  fact  of  baptism, 
but  they  must  not  venture  on  a  similar  course. 
Conquerors  always  regard  the  patriotic  songs 
of  a  vanquished  people  as  mischievous  and  revo- 
lutionary, and  forbid  their  use.  An  immersed 
member  of  a  Pedobaptist  church  must  submit  to 
similar  discipline.  He  -will  soon  repent  his  te- 
merity if  he  uses  any  "  plainness  of  speech" 
about  baptism.  His  lips  are  forbidden  to  speak 
a  word  which  conjures  up  what  so  much  tends 
to  disconcert  his  fellow-members.  Though  the 
church  may  not  seem  very  inflammable,  there 
are  "words  that  burn"  when  uttered  by  some 
tongues.  Baptism  is  one  of  these,  and  it  is  vir- 
tually proscribed.  If  any  one's  affections  are 
so  interested  in  the  subject  that  he  cannot  hold 
his  peace,  nor  refrain  from  advocating  immer- 
sion in  the  case  of  others,  he  will  soon  find  him- 
self in  a  very  unenviable  position.  He  must 
show  his  penitence  by  observing 

"silence, — deep, — unnatural, — like 
The  quiet  of  the  grave," 

or  his  intractable  course  will  alienate  his  breth- 


32  A   PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 

ren  from  him;  and,  if  not  excommunicated, 
he  will  know  little  of  the  joys  of  a  spiritual 
home. 

2.  As  far  as  an  immersed  member  of  a  Pedo- 
baptist  church  has  the  means  and  the  disposi- 
tion to  give,  he  contributes  to  the  support  and 
extension  of  Pedobaptist  institutions  and  senti- 
ments. 

It  may  be  that  the  Gospel  is  about  to  be  sent 
to  a  heathen  nation,  who  have  never  been  bless- 
ed by  the  beams  of  truth.  A  baptized  belie- 
ver, we  naturally  conclude,  desires  they  should 
have  the  ordinances  among  them  agreeably  to 
the  mind  of  Christ.  But  will  it  be  so  ?  Is  he 
not  contributing  to  a  different  result  ?  He 
knows  that  so  far  as  Pedobaptist  missionaries 
go,  so  far  they  carry  sprinkling  instead  of  im- 
mersion ;  and  that,  as  soon  as  possible,  infants 
will  receive  the  rite. 

Who  that  is  at  all  acquainted  with  the  mis- 
chiefs which  the  controversy  has  produced  in 
our  own  land,  and  the  fearful  extent  to  which 
it  has  diverted  the  energies  of  Christians,  de- 
sires to  plant  the  same  controversy  on  what  is 
now  heathen  ground  ?  Yet  the  Baptist  mem- 
ber of  a  Pedobaptist  church  will  help  to  forward 


NO    HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  33 

this  result.  In  his  own  case  he  received  his 
convictions  of  the  propriety  of  believers'  immer- 
sion from  the  Bible.  When  the  Scriptures 
shall  be  given  to  the  heathen,  although  the  or- 
dinance may  be  veiled  in  an  "  unknown  tongue," 
yet  still,  without  greatly  mutilating  the  truth, 
believers'  immersion  will  shine  forth.  The 
same  Spirit  of  Truth  who  enlightened  Roger 
Williams,  Adoxiram  Judscx,  and  many 
others,  in  the  midst  of  Pedobaptists,  may  lead 
some  convert  to  see  the  importance  of  observing 
the  ordinances  as  they  were  first  delivered  to 
the  churches  by  Divine  authority.  Then  will 
the  fierce  sirocco  of  controversy  sweep  over  the 
fruitful  fields  reclaimed  from  heathenism.  It 
may  be  but  a  small  amount  which  an  immersed 
believer  has  contributed  to  this  result,  but  he  is 
not  blameless.  He  cannot  escape  on  the  plea 
that  it  is  better  to  give  the  heathen  the  Gospel 
with  a  few  errors,  rather  than  not  at  all,  be- 
cause he  well  knows  he  might  have  contributed 
through  institutions  in  which  Divine  ordinances 
would  not  be  made  void  by  human  tradition. 
In  that  case  he  would  not  have  given  his  aid  to 
nourish  a  plant  which  our  Heavenly  Father  hath 
not  planted,  and  thus  he  would  not  have  to  la- 


34  A   PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 

ment  that  lie  was  helping  to  implant  errors 
which  so  much  time,  talent,  and  energy  are  re- 
quired to  uproot. 

Nor  would  he  have  the  sin  of  helping  to  give 
God's  word,  with  baptism,  hidden,  marred,  or 
mis-translated.  In  nearly  every  Pedobaptist 
church,  contributions  are  made  to  a  Bible  So- 
ciety, whose  translations,  in  many  instances, 
leave  the  heathen  with  as  little  clue  to  the 
meaning  of  baptism  as  possible.  If  an  error  is 
even  uttered  from  the  pulpit,  its  influence  is 
comparatively  limited ;  but  where,  as  the  result 
of  deliberate  action,  it  is  propagated  from  the 
press,  it  may  deceive  the  nations  for  ever.  Those 
who  thus  mystify  baptism  may  sincerely  dis- 
claim all  intention  to  teach  error ;  but  the  course 
they  pursue  shows  their  unwillingness  candidly 
to  study  the  meaning  of  the  term,  and  then  give 
to  the  world — whatever  conclusion  they  reach — 
that  definition  which  they  honestly  believe  is 
Truth.  Now,  there  is  no  investigation  of  the 
subject.  It  is  purposely  involved  in  mystery. 
How  can  an  immersed  disciple  inflict  greater 
dishonor  on  his  own  principles,  than  by  forming  a 
fellowship  where  he  will  aid  such  a  system  of 
concealment,  or  perversion  ? 


NO    HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  35 

3.  The  practice  of  a  Baptist  member  of  a 
Pedobaptist  church,  provided  he  has  a  house- 
hold, does  not  agree  ivith  that  of  other  members. 
His  children  •will  not  be  sprinkled.  They  will 
only  have,  like  the  children  of  other  Baptists, 
a  prayerful  dedication  to  God  daily. 

If  a  minister  Believes  the  principles  generally 
maintained  by  Pedobaptists — so  well  expressed 
by  Dr.  Clark — that  infants  "are  sanctified  by 
being  born  of  believing  parents,"  and  are  "al- 
ready, in  some  sense,  within  the  limits  of  the 
church  and  of  the  covenant  of  promise,"  can  he 
think  it  a  trifling  omission?  How  can  any 
man,  who  believes  infant  baptism  a  divine  in- 
stitution, be  a  party  to  the  admission  of  any 
persons  into  church  fellowship  whom  he  has  rea- 
son to  believe  will  neglect  the  observance  by 
which  the  "  seed"  of  believers,  in  his  views,  are 
made  "partakers  of  the  benefits  of  the  cove- 
nant of  grace  ?"  Are  not  such  parents,  to  hi3 
new,  guilty  of  sin  in  depriving  their  children 
of  so  distinguished  a  privilege  ?  Ecclesiastical 
standards  are  not  set  up,  to  be  taken  down  just 
when  it  suits  convenience.  "When  principles 
are  so  little  valued  that  men  are  not  prepared  to 


36  A   PEDOBAPTIST    CHURCH 

abide  by  them  in  any  event,  the  sooner  a  di- 
vorce is  made  the  better. 

4.  Immersed  parents  who  unite  with  unbap- 
tized  churches  expose  their  children  to  influ- 
ences prejudicial  to  their  spiritual  welfare. 

Those  who  desire  to  foster  right  religious  in- 
fluences in  the  young,  find  that  the  impres- 
sions they  receive  of  ministerial  character  have 
a  very  powerful  bearing  for  evil  or  for  good. 
Everything  which  depreciates  a  minister  in  their 
esteem,  will  detract  from  the  power  of  the  truths 
he  presses  on  their  regard.  When  infants  are 
sprinkled,  the  children  of  immersed  parents 
hear  the  minister  they  have  been  taught  to  love 
and  revere,  enforce  a  tradition  of  men,  virtually 
nullifying  their  own  parents'  baptism.  Parents, 
if  they  have  any  proper  sense  of  responsibility 
to  Christ,  must  vindicate  his  institutions.  It 
will  become  their  duty  to  show  their  chil- 
dren not  only  the  mode  of  baptism,  but  to  teach 
them  that,  like  every  other  religious  act,  it  re- 
quires that  we  "  obey  from  the  heart  the  form 
of  doctrine  delivered  to  us."  When,  howe- 
ver, an  attempt  is  made  to  correct  the  erro- 
neous impressions  which   the   minister  would 


NO   HOME   FOR   A  BAPTIST.  37 

leave,  a  sceptical  and  captious  disposition  may 
be  encouraged.  Will  not  the  opinion  be  form- 
ed, that  a  minister  who  is  mistaken  in  one  mat- 
ter, may  be  wrong  in  another?  Saving  veri- 
ties, when  proclaimed  by  him,  may  be  discred- 
ited, and,  instead  of  receiving  with  meekness 
the  engrafted  word  of  God,  children  may  try 
every  discourse  by  their  own  limited  knowledge. 
Here  is  one  evil  effect  of  injudicious  church  re- 
lationships, and  who  can  tell  how  far  this  evil 
may  extend? 

Parents  who  act  thus  inconsistently,  may  ex- 
ercise an  injurious  influence  in  another  respect. 
They  will  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper  in 
the  company  of  those  who  are  unbaptized, 
and  their  children  will  be  taught,  by  this  act, 
that,  though  immersion  is  a  command  of  Christ, 
yet  when  neglected,  the  omission  is  of  very  tri- 
vial importance.  However  active  the  con- 
sciences of  the  parents  may  have  been  on  the 
subject  of  baptism,  the  consciences  of  their 
children  will  be  blunted.  Whereas,  had  they 
been  accustomed  to  mingle  in  the  worship  of 
those  who  insist  that  baptism  is  for  him  "  that 
believeth,"  they  could  not  escape  the  conviction 
that  their  remaining  unbaptized  indicates  the 
4 


38  A  PEDOBAPTIST   CHUKCH 

absence  of  saving  faith,  and  a  constant  expo- 
sure to  perish  in  their  sins.  Mark  xvi.  16. 

5.  It  is  remarkable  that  those  Pedobaptist 
churches  whose  pliability  is  so  extreme,  that 
they  adopt  all  modes  according  to  request, 
should  generally  refuse  immersion  to  those  who 
were  sprinkled  in  infancy. 

The  man  who  received  sprinkling  in  infancy, 
must  keep  it,  however  unwillingly,  after  he  be- 
comes a  believer ;  while  he  who  was  born  of  un- 
godly parents  has  his  own  choice — sprinkling, 
pouring,  or  immersion !  The  child  of  the  re- 
probate has  privileges  superior  to  the  child  of 
the  godly!  He  who  has  parental  negligence 
on  his  side,  may  well  congratulate  himself,  if 
he  desires,  without  repudiating  the  act  of  an 
honored  parent  who  had  them  sprinkled  in  in- 
fancy, to  "  put  on  Christ"  scripturally.  The  ef- 
fect of  this  system  will  be,  that  many  who  have 
been  made  to  dispense  with  baptism,  will  feel 
unwilling  to  thrust  their  children  into  like  per- 
plexity, and,  therefore,  will  leave  them  un- 
sprinkled.  Pedobaptists  thus  give  a  premium 
to  those  who  despise  their  own  customs,  and 
make  a  breach  in  their  own  walls. 

6.  It  is  expected  that  members  of  any  church 


NO   HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  39 

tvill  be  able  to  defend  the  fundamental  princi- 
pies  by  which  their  fellowship  is  regulated. 

Membership  in  a  Peclobaptist  church,  of 
course,  as  far  as  a  ceremonial  prerequisite  is 
concerned,  is  based  on  infant  baptism.  Here, 
then,  the  Baptist  believer  of  such  a  church  is 
involved  in  a  serious  dilemma.  He  may  be 
called  upon  to  defend  the  practice  of  his  church, 
not  only  by  Baptists,  but  by  parties  from  whom 
they  are  wide  as  the  poles  asunder.  Let  a  Ro- 
manist ask  him  to  show  scriptural  authority  for 
this  observance.  As  a  member  of  a  Baptist 
church  he  could  show  he  was  in  no  way  identi- 
fied with  it ;  but  as  a  member  of  a  Pedobaptist 
church,  he  is  shorn  of  his  strength.  He  must 
defend  a  custom  in  which  he  does  not  believe, 
or  let  it  appear  that  he  clings  to  a  church 
whose  principles  will  not  bear  inquiry.  It  is 
useless  for  him  to  plead  his  own  immersion  as  a 
believer,  when  his  antagonist  can  reply,  "But 
your  church  baptizes  infants — does  it  not  ?" 

We  are  not  drawing  upon  fancy  for  argu- 
ments. Romanists  know  the  weak  point  of 
their  opponents.  They  delight  to  torture  a 
Protestant  Pedobaptist  by  pinioning  him  to  the 
Bible  with   respect  to  infant  baptism.     In  a 


40  A   PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 

public  discussion,  which  from  the  learning  and 
ability  of  the  parties  engaged,  excited  great  at- 
tention, the  Roman  Catholic  inquired  of  the 
Protestant  champion,  who  Tauntingly  held  forth 
the  Bible  as  his  only  rule  of  faith,  "Where,  in 
that  book,  is  to  be  found  one  word  relative  to 
the  baptism  of  infants?  I  ask,  unless  Tradi- 
tion comes  to  the  rescue  of  my  learned  friend, 
by  what  refining  ingenuity  will  he  call  upon  the 
Bible  to  protect  him  in  baptizing  infants  that 
cannot  give  the  answer, — that  cannot  exclaim, 
'I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of 
God  V  "  The  discomfiture  of  his  opponent  was 
complete.  The  Romanist  turned  to  the  Bap- 
tists then  present,  and  remarked,  in  reference 
to  Pedobaptist  inconsistency,  "These  men,  in 
order  to  confute  us  Catholics,  take  up  the  Bi- 
ble and  proscribe  Tradition;  but  in  order  to 
confute  you,  they  throw  away  the  Bible,  and 
take  up  Tradition  as  the  standard  of  their  faith, 
the  confounder  of  their  enemies." 

Is  there  a  Baptist  who  would  expose  himself 
to  such  rebuke  ?  If  he  cannot  defend  infant 
baptism,  why  should  he  join  with  Pedobaptists  ? 
His  fellow-members  may  defend  themselves 
honestly  with  respect  to  the  observance,  but  hf 


NO   HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  41 

cannot.  He  must  degrade  himself  in  liis  own 
estimation,  or  in  the  estimation  of  others.  He 
must  be  unfaithful  to  his  conscience,  or  unfaith- 
ful to  his  church. 

T.  A  Baptist  cannot  develope  his  gifts  in  a 
Pedobaptist  church. 

The  peculiarity  of  his  views  will  in  general 
prevent  his  sustaining  any  office.  As  well  might 
a  Jew  aspire  to  a  distinguished  station  in  Rus- 
sia, as  for  an  individual  holding  to  immersion 
to  think  of  being  a  minister  among  Pedobap- 
tists.  Any  young  man,  whatever  his  piety, 
talents  and  acquirements,  whose  belief  extends 
no  farther  than  that  immersion  is  the  prefera- 
ble mode  of  baptism,  will  find  this  single  opi- 
nion entirely  debar  him  from  the  ministry.  Pe- 
dobaptist ministers  instinctively  feel,  "It  is  not 
safe  to  let  him  in." 

Not  only  ought  there  to  be  deep  reflection  on 
the  part  of  any  person  who  believes  in  immer- 
sion, whether  it  is  right  for  him  to  unite  with  a 
denomination  in  which  his  sentiments  would 
prove  a  hindrance  to  any  individual  attaining 
to  the  ministry;  but  it  also  deserves  serious 
consideration  from  the  men  of  piety  in  those 

churches,  whether,  whatever  the  prospect  of  pre- 
4* 


42  A   PEDOBAPTTST    CHURCH 

sent  usefulness,  they  ought  to  encourage  young 
men  who,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  may  after- 
wards prove  suitable  for  the  Gospel  ministry,  to 
place  themselves  in  a  position  which  must  oc- 
casion such  serious  perplexity. 

8.  Pedobaptist  ministers,  as  far  as  possible, 
dissuade  candidates  for  church  fellowship  from 
immersion. 

Although  they  admit  that  it  is  not  unscrip- 
tural,  they  will  use  every  plea  which  their  in- 
genuity can  invent,  so  that  the  converts  may 
recede  from  primitive  ground.  They  will  lead 
people  many  miles  from  Jerusalem  to  water 
their  cattle,  and  assuage  their  own  thirst,  ra- 
ther than  admit  that  "much  water"  was  re- 
quired for  baptism.  In  the  face  of  demon- 
strated facts,  they  will  assert  the  impossibility 
of  immersing  three  thousand  converts  at  Jeru- 
salem on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  They  can  in- 
vent an  ingenious  hypothesis,  by  which  they 
will  prove  a  person  can  be  "buried"  without 
being  covered  over. 

Nor  is  this  the  worst.  We  blush  to  tell  truth 
so  humbling  to  our  brethren,  as  we  must  tell 
of  some  at  least.  If  they  have  a  young  lady 
to  deal  with,  they  will  strive  to  influence  her 


NO   HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  43 

womanly  nature  by  considerations  of  the  "in- 
decency" of  being  baptized  as  Jesus  Christ 
was.*     When  they  have  thus  reasoned,  ridi- 

*  That  such  arguments  are  not  confined  to  private 
conversation,  but  are  actually  deemed  legitimate  for 
public  discourse,  and  for  the  widest  diffusion  from  the 
press,  is  proved,  we  regret  to  say,  by  the  following  ex- 
tract from  a  sermon,  delivered  by  a  distinguished  min- 
ister of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  whom  we  personally 
know  and  love.  The  sermon  was  published,  by  request 
qf his  church,  at  Petersburg,  Ya.,  in  1847.  The  lan- 
guag^  is  exquisitely  guarded. 

"Would  it  be  venturing  too  far,  also  to  suggest,  that 
this  mode  of  baptism  often  requires  an  exposure  ex- 
ceedingly trying  to  a  modest  and  sensitive  female,  and 
such  as,  in  othpr  circumstance5,  would  be  esteemed  in- 
delicate. I  know  that  where  Scripture  is  explicit,  all 
must  bear  the  cross,  if  they  would  be  followers  of  the 
Lamb:  but  where  the  Divine  authority  contended  for, 
can,  to  say  the  least,  admit  of  reasonable  doubt,  does 
not  the  fact,  that  the  mode  of  administering  an  ordi- 
nance, which  «almost  of  necessity  requires  a  painful 
trial  to  the  highest  and  finest  feelings  of  a  woman's  na- 
ture, afford  strong  presumptive  evidence  such  is  not  the 
mode  which  came  from  God/'  See  "Scriptural  Bap- 
tism explained  and  defended."  By  Rev.  John  Levburn, 
P.  D. 

In  connection  with  the  above,  we  think  it  proper  to 
present  an  extract  from  the  Memoir  of  Mrs.  Lydia  M. 
Malcom,  for  the  express  purpose  of  showing  the  feel- 
ings of  a  lady  of  the  most  refined  delicacy,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  her  baptism,  by  the  Ptev.  Dr.  Staughton,  in 
1818.  Affpr  stating  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  her  previous 
fears  of  being  intimidated,  she  proceeds:  ""When  the 
hour  arrived,  I  experienced  no   such   emotions.     My 


44  A   PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 

culed  and  distorted  the  ordinance,  then,  per- 
haps, rather  than  lose  the  convert,  they  will 


soul  was  devoid  of  rapturous  feeling,  but  serene  joy 
pervaded  every  faculty,  and  every  feeling  vibrated  with  ce- 
lestial love.  I  exulted  when  I  stood  up  with  the  Dr.  dur- 
ing a  portion  of  his  address,  in  thus  publicly  professing 
myself  a  candidate  for  an  eternal  world,  a  child  of  God, 
a  follower  of  the  blessed  Jesus.  My  happiness  was 
consummate,  and  I  panted  to  tell  those  who  were  pre- 
sent what  a  precious  Saviour  I  have  found,  and  most  ar- 
dently I  desired  again  to  relate  to  them  what  Jesus  had 
done  for  my  soul,  and  to  persuade  precious  immortal 
souls,  who  do  not  love  God,  no  longer  to  pursue  the 
fleeting,  shadowy  pleasures  of  time,  while  immortal  sub- 
stance awaits  them.  I  regretted  that  it  was  not  custom- 
ary for  candidates  on  baptismal  occasions  to  speak  to  the 
audience.  I  would  have  told  them  that  I  was  once  the 
infatuated  votary  of  pleasure,  and  immersed  in  amuse- 
ments that  abstract  the  affections  from  God ;  that  it 
was  his  power  alone  that  defended  me  from  the  shaft 
of  death  which  they  conceal,  and  rescued  me  from  the 
gulf  of  destruction  to  which  they  allure ;  and  that  I 
would  not  exchange  the  happiness  I  derive  from  the 
promises  of  the  sacred  oracles,  for  all  that  human  pow- 
er can  afford  me  without  Christ.  Truly  the  ways  of 
religion  are  pleasantness  and  her  paths  peace.  The 
soul  that  has  once  enjoyed  them,  acknowledges  that 
they  present  the  highest  happiness  that  a  rational  crea- 
ture can  desire.  My  dear  friend,  why  do  you  delay 
to  come  before  the  world,  and  profess  the  name  of 
the  holy  Jesus  1" — Memoir  of  Mrs.  Lydia  M.  Malcom, 
page  14. 

Could  an  honorable,  high-minded  man,  and  sincere 
Christian,  like  Dr.  Leyburn,  have  drawn  his  represent- 
ation from  facts  like  this,  and  not  from  the  preconcep- 


NO    HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  45 

say,  as  did  one  "who  occupies  a  highly  re- 
spectable position,  "Well,  if  nothing  else  will 
satisfy  you,  I'll  douse  you."'  Now,  while 
the  person  is  to  be  pitied, who  would  submit  to 
be  baptized  by  persons  who  thus  scoff  at  and 
caricature  the  Divine  ordinance,  what  measure 
is  there  diminutive  enough  to  show  the  dwarf- 
ishness  of  attainment — literary  and  spiritual — 
of  the  men  who  adopt  such  arguments  ? 

Ministers  who  thus  undertake  to  immerse, 
certainly  compromise  their  own  character  for 
purity  of  heart.  A  recent  circumstance  affords 
an  illustration.  A  young  lady,  belonging  to  a 
highly  respectable  family,  having  been,  as  she 
trusted,  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth, 
was  impressed  with  the  Divine  authority  of  im- 
mersion, and,  therefore,  desired  it  in  her  own 
case.  She  conversed  with  a  Pedobaptist  min- 
ister on  the  subject.  He  used  the  common  ar- 
gument for  the  propriety  of  sprinkling,  and  en- 


tions  of  a  startled  imagination,  we  cannot  but  believe 
he  would  have  spared  such  indelicate  insinuations  as 
those  in  which  he  has  indulged  in  his  published  dis- 
course. As  it  is,  we  judge  him  not.  "To  his  own 
Master  he  standeth  or  falleth." 

J.  N.   B. 


46  A   PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 

deavored  to  show  that  immersion  was  unneces- 
sary. He  had  directed  every  arrow  in  his  qui- 
ver against  the  ordinance  but  one.  His  visitor 
was  a  young  lady.  She  was  modest.  He 
thought  he  could  not  fail  to  hit  his  mark.  "It 
is  not  decent  for  a  young  lady  to  go  into  the 
water  with  a  man."  This  did  not  move  her. 
"  To  the  pure  all  things  are  pure."  Unwilling 
to  lose  her  from  his  church,  the  minister  deter- 
mined to  make  a  last  effort  to  retain  her.  "If 
you  still  insist  upon  being  immersed,  allow  me 
to  offer  my  services"  Patiently  had  his  visi- 
tor endured  his  behaviour  hitherto,  but  now  he 
appeared  so  degraded  that  this  was  no  longer 
possible.  Rising  in  all  the  majesty  of  woman- 
hood, she  addressed  him  as  follows :  "  And  would 
you  ' offer'  to  do  an  indecent  thing  to  me,  Sir? 
I  have  discovered  a  new  feature  in  your  charac- 
ter. I  did  not  think  you  would  do  an  indecent 
thing,  sir."  Let  those  who  can,  form  an  opi- 
nion of  the  feelings  of  the  man  whose  inso- 
lent modesty  was  thus  rebuked.  And  let  them 
not  fail  to  appreciate  the  moral  deducible  from 
such  a  circumstance.  A  minister  who  assails 
immersion  on  the  score  of  indecency,  lays  him- 
self open   to   imputations   of  immodesty.     A 


XO   HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  47 

spectator  of  a  baptismal  scene  in  which  such  a 
clergyman  officiates,  might  well  feel  justified  in 
using  the  tone  of  indignant  remonstrance,  and 
exclaiming, 

"  I  blush  for  you ! 
Men  of  your  quality,  expose  your  fame 
To  every  vulgar  censure." 

Other  considerations  might  be  adduced  to 
sustain  the  ground  we  have  taken,  but  the  mor- 
tifying facts  already  presented — that  immersed 
members  of  Pedobaptist  churches  are  expected 
to  sustain  sentiments  they  reject,  and  observe 
a  servile  silence  as  to  those  they  do  hold ;  that 
their  children  are  exposed  to  influences  prejudi- 
cial to  their  spiritual  welfare ;  that  their  practice 
does  not  agree  with  that  of  other  members,  and 
must  lead  to  disorder  and  rebuke;  that  their 
principles  are  a  disability  to  holding  office,  and 
are  even  subjected  to  the  imputation  of  inde- 
cency by  Pedobaptist  ministers — are  sufficient 
to  prove  the  dishonor  they  put  on  their  own 
views  of  truth,  and  the  degradation  they  incur 
by  such  a  union. 


48  A   PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 


CONCLUSION. 


From  the  inquiry  we  have  now  prosecuted 
we  believe  it  is  evident,  that  while  the  adminis- 
tration of  immersion  by  those  who  have  not 
themselves  received  the  rite,  is  inconsistent  and 
indefensible,  still  more  so  is  the  course  of  the 
person  thus  baptized.  Though  manifesting,  by 
observing  the  ordinance,  an  attachment  to  the 
primitive  institution,  yet  by  receiving  the  ordi- 
nance at  the  hands  of  an  unimmersed  minister 
(who  has  never  been  baptized  as  a  believer,)  and 
with  a  view  to  union  with  a  church,  the  majori- 
ty of  whose  membership  have  never  been  bap- 
tized as  believers,  he  by  the  same  act  professe3 
Truth  and  sanctions  Error.  lie  clasps  the  Bible 
to  his  heart,  and  salutes  Tradition.  Into  the 
very  Jordan  he  seems  to  carry  a  basin;  for 
while  rejecting  sprinkling,  a  sprinkled  minister 
officiates.    Though  baptized  on  his  own  personal 


NO    HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  49 

profession  he  countenances  a  proxy  faith.  He 
cannot  believe  that  such  a  baptism  occurred 
in  apostolic  times. 

That  there  should  be  strong  affections  exist- 
ing in  the  mind,  towards  a  minister,  by  whom 
spiritual  blessings  have,  under  God,  been  com- 
municated, does  not  excite  surprise.  There  is 
however  reason  for  gratulation,  that  notwith- 
standing this,  many  clearly  perceive  their  duty. 
The  number  of  persons  who  yearly  leave  the 
churches  in  which  they  have  been  irregularly 
immersed,  and  seek  union  with  Baptist  churches, 
affords  ample  proof  that  a  Pedobaptist  church 
can  be  no  home  for  those  who  adopt  believers' 
baptism.  The  "  sophist's  rope  of  cobweb"  may 
be  twined  with  great  ingenuity,  but  the  Chris- 
tian who  has  been  led  to  see  the  true  mode  of 
observing  Christ's  ordinance,  will  soon  perceive 
how  rotten  is  any  line  of  argument  which  tends 
to  place  him  in  church  fellowship  with  those, 
who,  as  far  as  their  influence  extends,  endeavor 
to  bring  into  contempt  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  to 
which  he  has  delighted  to  submit. 

As  to  the  validity  of  the  baptisms  which  such 
persons  have  received,  it  is  not  our  desire  to  in- 
termeddle. Many  believe  that  Paul  re-baptized 
5 


50  A  PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH 

the  twelve  at  Ephesus,  (Acts  xix.  1-7),  be- 
cause their  gross  misconceptions  vitiated  the 
ordinance.  Those  skilled  in  casuistry  must  de- 
cide what  extent  of  ignorance  renders  a  re-bap- 
tism expedient.  But  it  is  evident  that  when 
persons  have  views  materially  defective,  their 
baptism,  however  sincere,  loses  all  claim  to  re- 
gard as  a  Divine  sendee.  On  this  ground,  pro- 
bably, there  is  frequently  more  reason  for  re- 
baptism  than  the  disability  which  applies  to  the 
administrator. 

That  it  is  the  duty  of  those  who  prize  primi 
tive  institutions,  in  every  consistent  manner  to 
discountenance  these  irregular  immersions  is 
evident,  if  for  no  other  reason,  because  they  are 
administered  upon  principles  which  have  an  in- 
timate affinity  to  Popery.  There  is  the  very 
spirit  of  Popery  in  the  administration  of  the 
ordinance,  without  any  necessity,  by  an  unim- 
mersed  minister.  Whence  did  the  idea  arise 
that  it  is  fitting  for  men  to  administer  to  others, 
rites  and  ceremonies  which  they  do  not  observe 
themselves  ?  It  can  be  attributed  to  none  but 
"the  Man  of  Sin."  When  Protestants  thus 
act,  they  infringe  the  patents  of  the  Papacy. 
This  doctrine  may  suit  the  slaves  of  the  Yati- 


NO    HOME  FOR  A  BAPTIST.  51 

can,  but  will  it  be  endured  by  Christ's  freemen? 
"We  trust  not.  Such  priestly  assumption  must 
receive  the  severest  reprobation  of  intelligent 
Christians. 

In  closing,  we  congratulate  the  friends  of 
Truth  upon  the  "signs  of  the  times."  In  the 
period  in  which  our  lot  it  cast,  it  is  evident  that 
it  is  high  time  for  every  spiritual  house  to  be 
set  in  order.  A  reason  must  be  given  for  every 
practice  and  observance.  The  hope  may  be 
entertained  that  infant  baptism  will  not  long 
exert  its  blighting  influence.  The  mere  fact 
that  so  many  of  its  advocates  are  willing  to  im- 
merse believers,  shows  the  slightness  of  its  hold 
upon  public  esteem.* 

Nothing  will  gain  currency  now  which  has 
not  the  superscription  of  Truth.  "  Every  thing 
is  in  the  crucible,  in  this  age."  The  issue  is  not 


*  Pedobaptists  advocate  sprinkling  as  sufficient  for  all 
the  purposes  of  the  ordinance.  If  sprinkling  is  suffi- 
cient, and  of  equal  authority,  why  should  they  sanction 
a  departure  from  its  observance?  The  Pedobaptist  ad- 
ministrator throws  contempt  upon  his  own  baptism. 
A  spectator  of  his  proceedings  is  justified,  in  believing 
that  so  unusual  a  course  would  not  be  adopted  if  it  had 
not  the  best  of  arguments  in  its  support.  He  is  not 
unlikely  to  inquire,  "has  sprinkling  like  evidence  in 
its  favor  ?" 


52  A   PEDOBAPTIST     CHURCH 

doubtful.  "  Eternal  Truth  will  gain  the  supre- 
macy— all  temporal  plausibilities  will  perish." 

The  baptismal  controversy  is  not  ended.  It 
has  to  do  with  all  that  is  spiritual  and  volun- 
tary in  religion.  For  the  sake  of  Christian 
union  an  attempt  may  be  made  to  coffin  and 
bury  it,  and  "  Non-essential"  may  be  inscribed 
upon  its  tomb.  But  it  will  rise  again.  As  God 
has  made  this  ordinance  so  prominent  in  his 
Word,  he  will  not  allow  it  to  be  so  lightly  re- 
garded among  his  people.  There  can  be  no 
real  alliance  among  Christians,  if  any  portion 
of  His  will  must  be  put  out  of  sight  in  order  to 
form  it. 

There  will  yet  be  union  among  the  peo- 
ple of  God,  but  it  will  be  union  in  the  Truth. 
It  is  only  as  Christ  dwells  in  his  people  that 
the  breaches  of  Zion  will  be  healed,  and  that 
they  will  become  "perfect  in  one."  The  more 
His  presence  is  individually  realized,  the  nearer 
shall  we  be  to  the  settlement  of  this  vexed  ques- 
tion. 

One  great  end  of  those  who  desire  the  return 
of  a  spirit  of  union  and  love  among  the  disci- 
ples of  our  Lord  is,  to  cherish  a  spirit  of  free 
inquiry.     "If  any  man  will  do  His  will,  he 


NO   HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  53 

shall  know  of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of 
God."  Conviction  depends  not  alone  upon  the 
nature  and  amount  of  evidence,  but  upon  the 
disposition  of  mind  with  which  a  subject  is  ex- 
amined. When  a  man,  with  his  own  predilec- 
tions and  prejudices,  gives  himself  to  the  study 
of  baptism,  or  any  other  controverted  subject  in 
which  he  may  be  in  error,  it  is  no  wonder  if  he 
rises  up  with  only  increased  bitterness  against 
the  arguments  which  conflict  with  his  own  che- 
rished views. 

Many  satisfy  themselves  with  the  idea  that 
Baptists  are  unlovely  in  practice,  without  in- 
quiring what  makes  their  practice  appear  un- 
lovely. If  they  would  do  this,  they  might  learn 
that  what  is  deemed  exclusiveness,  would  have 
been  unnecessary  had  all  Christians  "  kept  the 
ordinances  as  they  were  delivered."  It  is  mat- 
ter of  little  surprise  that  those  whose  minds  are 
thus  prejudiced  should  fail  to  be  convinced. 
"  Honest  impartiality  and  earnest  desire  to  know 
the  truth  for  its  own  worth,  are  no  less  rational 
and  necessary,  as  instruments  for  its  acquisi- 
tion, than  excursive  investigation  and  decisive 
argument.  Without  them,  in  vain  are  men 
dazzled  by  the  concentrated  blaze  of  evidence. 


54  A  PEDOBAPTIST    CHURCH 

Evidence  can  influence  only  as  a  moral  means ; 
but  what  are  moral  means,  without  a  disposi- 
tion to  use  and  improve  them  ?  The  Jews  and 
Gentiles  of  Apostolic  times  wanted  neither  evi- 
dence of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  nor  diligent 
research,  yet  they  remained  unconvinced,  be- 
cause morally  unfitted  for  being  convinced. " 
"  They  loved  darkness  rather  than  light."  They 
failed  to  comply  with  the  exhortation,  "  Cleanse 
your  hands,  ye  sinners,  and  purify  your  hearts, 
ye  double  minded." 

Prejudice  and  pride  often  dwell  unconscious- 
ly in  the  bosoms  of  sincere  Christians.  Like 
heavy  vapors  in  the  air,  they  darken  the  keen- 
est eye,  and  chill  the  warmest  heart.  "We  see 
this  in  such  a  man  as  Nathaniel,  "an  Israelite 
indeed,  in  whom  there  was  no  guile."  But  a 
day  of  purer  light  is  promised.  It  already  be- 
gins to  dawn. 

As  a  humble  and  teachable  spirit  shall  be 
more  generally  diffused  in  the  Christian  world, 
the  ecclesiastical  atmosphere  will  become  clear, 
and  no  longer  sustain  those  clouds  which  now 
so  often  obscure  the  vision  of  our  holiest  men. 
Then,  true  to  their  great  Commission,  the  dis- 
ciples of  Christ  will  perceive,  that,  like  the  glo- 


NO   HOME   FOR   A   BAPTIST.  55 

rious  Gospel,  whose  leading  facts  it  is  designed 
visibly  to  embody,  Immersion  is  adapted  to  men 
of  every  nation,  kindred  and  tongue,  inhabiting 
every  zone  of  the  earth — even  though  they  find 
a  home  beneath  the  burning  fires  of  a  tropical 
sun,  or  amid  the  perpetual  snows  of  an  arctic 
winter.* 


*  Let  it  not  be  thought  that  the  above  statement  is 
exaggerated.  It  is  well  known  that  all  the  great  Re- 
forraers  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  freely  admitted  that 
Immersion  was  the  meaning  of  the  original  word,  and 
also  the  primitive  practice.  But  they  pleaded  for  a 
liberty  of  change  to  suit  the  climate.  This  plea  is  un- 
sound. 1.  It  rests  on  a  false  assumption  of  power  in 
the  Church.    2.  It  opens  the  door  for  other  innovations. 

3.  It  is  without  support  from  any  real  necessity  :  as  the 
uniform  practice  of  the  Greek  Church  demonstrates. 

4.  It  is  acquiesced  in,  mainly  from  custom,  convenience, 
or  taste,  and  therefore  in  all  such  cases,  is  not  "  the 
answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God." 

Even  were  it  true,  that  Immersion  is  impracticable 
in  a  few  places  on  the  habitable  globe,  how  could  this 
excuse  Sprinkling  in  mild  and  temperate  climates  like 
ours  ?  Every  year,  in  the  United  States,  more  than  fifty 
thousand  persons  professing  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  are 
immersed,  without  the  slighest  injury — often  to  the 
awakening  of  the  unconverted.  What  fact  in  Science 
is  better  proved  than  the  perfect  safety  of  Immersion  ? 
Immersion  is  actually  practised  now,  by  the  Baptist 
Missions  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  directly  under  the 
heat  of  the  Equator  ;  and  by  the  Russian  Greek  Church 
amid  the  inhospitable  wastes  of  Siberia — the  coldest 
regions  inhabited  by  Man.  j.  x.  b. 


56  A   PEDOBAPTIST   CHURCH,    ETC. 

Human  tradition  shall  then  no  longer  mar 
the  significant  symbols  of  the  Christian's 
faith. — "Then  shall  the  offering  of  his  people 
be  pleasant  unto  the  Lord,  as  in^the  days  of 
old  and  as  in  former  years."  Intelligent  Man- 
hood shall  then,  in  the  waters  of  baptism,  pre- 
sent its  voluntary  and  reasonable  service  of  a 
"  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  God." 
Childhood  too  shall  be  there,  but  it  shall  be 
Childhood  "taught  of  the  Lord,"  and  bright 
with  the  fmfading  "  beauty  of  holiness."  Then 
shall  "the  churches  have  rest"  from  controver- 
sies more  paralysing  than  persecution;  "and 
walking  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the 
comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  multiplied." 


THE  END. 


THE 

ufficirncjj  of  Mlatrr  for  ^aptijing, 

AT  JERUSALEM, 

AND  ELSEWHERE  IN  PALESTINE, 
AS  RECORDED  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT; 


SET    FORTH    IX    A    LETTER 
BY   THE 

KEY.  GEORGE  TV.  SAMSON, 


^jjilntolpjjin: 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

530   ARCH   STREET 


THE 

SUFFICIENCY    OF  WATER  FOR  BAPTIZING, 

AT  JERUSALEM  AXD  ELSEWHERE  IX  PALESTINE. 


To  the  Rev.  G.  TV.  Samson. 

Boston,  April  1,  1851. 
Rev  and  very  Dear  Sir, — As  you  have 
lately  visited  Palestine,  and  enjoyed  ample  means 
of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  interesting  locali- 
ties of  Jerusalem,  and  with  other  places  con- 
nected with  the  history  of  baptism  as  presented 
in  the  Xew  Testament,  I  have  a  request  to  make. 
It  is  this.  That  you  communicate  such  facts  as 
may  illustrate  the  points  discussed  in  Dr.  Ripley's 
manuscript,  which  you  saw  at  my  house  yester- 
day. 

Yours,  with  much  esteem  and  christian  love, 

I.   C. 


Reply. 
Rev.  Dr.  Chase. 

Dear  Sir, — You  have  asked  me  to  note  down 
some  personal  observations  and  impressions  as  to 

(3) 


4  WATER    SUFFICIENT 

the  facilities  offered  for  immersion  at  Jerusalem, 
and  other  localities  in  Palestine,  where  in  the 
New  Testament  the  rite  of  baptism  is  recorded  to 
have  been  administered.  It  is  no  easy  task  you 
demand ;  though  at  first  it  might  seem  a  simple 
one.  The  eye  certainly  is  the  instructor  of  the 
mind,  and  the  knowledge  gained  by  sight  is  in- 
deed the  surest  and  the  most  positive  we  can  ob- 
tain ;  yet  many  things  come  in  to  restrict  the  ex- 
tent, and  to  modify  the  real  value,  of  such  know- 
ledge. After  all  the  crowds  of  Christian  men 
that  have  traversed  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  Holy  Land,  there  are  some  spots 
of  interest  which  have  not  been  sought  out. 
Moreover,  many  that  have  been  visited  have  been 
but  imperfectly  explored  and  more  imperfectly 
described ;  for  only  the  jaded  traveler  himself 
knows  how  the  fatigues  of  constant  journeying 
take  away  the  mind's  stimulus  and  zest,  and  make 
the  eye  heavy  and  the  pen  sluggish  over  the 
evening  journal.  Yet  again,  scenes  that  are  ex- 
amined with  leisure  and  interest  take  a  form  and 
a  hue  corresponding  to  our  previous  preposses- 
sions ;  things  that  one  person  would  distinctly  ob- 
serve being  unconsciously  overlooked  by  another. 
And  still '  once  more,  when  the  mind  in  distant, 
subsequent  years,  endeavors  to  run  back  and  re- 
view the  thousand  varied  scenes  long  past  from 


AT   JERUSALEM.  5 

vision,  the  keenest  observer,  and  the  most  sin 
cere  and  faithful  chronicler,  will  inevitably  some- 
times mistake  the  images  of  fancy  for  the  remeni- 
hrjmce  of  realities.  "  Charity  believeth  all  things, 
hopeth  all  things  f}  and  a  large  measure  of  the 
exercise  of  that  grace  is  justly  due  toward  either 
of  two  travelers  who  may  widely  differ  as  to 
their  statement  of  matters  of  eyesight  and  as  to 
impressions  derived  from  scenes  visited.  I  feel 
assured,  therefore,  that,  in  reading  this  letter, 
you  will  not  be  hasty  to  detect  any  unjust  censure 
of  others  who  differ  with  the  writer ;  that 
you  will  feel  the  value  of  citations  from  the 
writings  of  men  who  have  traveled  through 
Palestine  in  ages  long  gone  by,  before  the  differ- 
ence of  opinion  now  existing  among  Christians 
as  to  the  mode  of  baptism  had  assumed  its  pre- 
sent marked  tone,  and  when,  therefore,  men 
wrote  free  from  the  bias  of  prepossession  ;  and 
that  moreover  you  will  charitably  excuse  any 
statement  of  an  impression  which  may  seem  to  you 
to  indicate  that  the  writer's  own  mind  has  been 
warped  from  the  nice  line  of  a  just  conclusion, 
since  the  great  Apostle  evidently  speaks  of  an 
attribute  belonging  only  to  the  All-Perfect  when 
he  says,  "  We  know  that  the  judgment  of  God  is 
according  to  truth." 


6  WATER   SUFFICIENT 

Some  of  the  Ancient  Chroniclers. 

Before  we  enter,  then,  on  our  survey,  allow  me 
to  recall  from  the  treasures  of  your  own  lifetime's 
study  the  honored  names  of  some  of  those  men 
who  have  gone  before  us  in  their  visits  to  the 
scenes  where  Christian  baptism  was  first  admin- 
istered ;  that  thus,  when  we  shall  stand  and  view 
the  localities  they  describe,  we  may  be  prepared 
rightly  to  weigh  and  to  compare  their  testimony. 
First  among  the  early  Christian  writers  who  par- 
ticularly describe  the  places  hallowed  in  the  life  of 
Christ  is.  the  famed  Bourdeaux  Pilgrim,  who  wrote 
in  Latin  an  account  of  his  visit  to  Palestine,  A.  D. 
333.  Previously  to  that  age,  indeed,  numberless 
Christian  scholars  and  pilgrims,  as  we  know,  had 
traversed  the  Holy  Land,  visiting  its  hallowed 
scenes ;  for  Jerome,  in  his  beautiful  eulogy  on 
Paula,  a  Roman  lady  who  was  descended  from 
the  renowned  Scipios,  and  who  during  his  day 
had  visited  Palestine,  states,  that  great  numbers 
of  pilgrims,  (to  use  his  own  words,)  "  through  all 
the  ages  from  the  ascension  of  the  Lord  to  the 
time  in  which  we  live?1  journeyed  through  Pales- 
tine, among  which  pilgrims  he  mentions  men 
from  "India,  Ethiopia,  Britannia,  Hibemia."* 
During   that   early  age,  however,  the   necessity 

*  Jerome,  Epist.  XXII. 


AT    JERUSALEM.  7 

had  not  yet  arisen  for  any  thing  but  a  bare  men- 
tion, such  as  Origen,  for  instance,  makes  of  the 
localities  then  well  known;  just  as  the  time  has 
not  yet  arrived  when  Americans  need  in  the  his- 
tory of  Washington  any  thing  more  than  a  mere 
reference  to  places  now  familiar,  as  Bunker  Hill, 
Saratoga,  and  Yorktown.  When,  however,  Chris- 
tianity became  the  established  religion  of  the  Ro- 
man empire,  then  detailed  descriptions  of  places 
whose  localities  were  known  to  residents  of  Pales- 
tine was  demanded  by  distant  believers  in  Christ : 
as  localities  in  this  country  must  be  described  to 
an  Englishman,  Frenchman,  or  Italian.  When 
that  necessity  arose,  the  Grecian  Eusebius,  who 
was  born  at  Caesarea  in  Palestine,  A.  D.  270, 
and  lived  and  died  there,  wrote  an  extended  his- 
tory of  the  Christian  Church,  and  wrote  also  a 
description  of  localities  in  his  native  land  hal- 
lowed in  the  life  of  Christ  and  of  his  Apostles. 
Then  also  Jerome,  who  had  been  baptized  at 
Rome  at  about  forty  years  of  age,  came  and  dwelt 
at  Bethlehem,  near  Jerusalem,  for  more  than 
thirty  years,  from  A.  D.  386  until  his  death, 
A.  D.  420  ;  preparing  there  his  version  of  the 
Old  Testament  in  Latin,  and  visiting  again  and 
again,  and  describing  the  sacred  spots  of  the  Holy 
Land.  The  testimony  of  these  early  writers  has 
been  deemed  invaluable  on  every  point  of  Bibli- 


3  WATER  SUFFICIENT 

cal  geography ;  and  their  statements,  therefore, 
which  may  show  the  facilities  for  immersion  at 
Jerusalem  and  in  Palestine,  are  of  the  first  im- 
portance. In  the  age  next  following,  from  the 
time  of  Constantine  to  the  day  when  Jerusalem 
was  taken  by  the  followers  of  Mohammed,  A.  D. 
63T,  pilgrims  still  flocked  to  tread  the  venerated 
soil ;  as  a  specimen  of  whom  may  be  mentioned 
Arculfus,  a  French  bishop,  who  on  his  return 
from  Palestine  was  cast  away  on  the  coast  of 
Scotland,  where  a  Scotch  abbot  named  Adam- 
nanus  wrote  out  his  account  of  his  travels,  and 
presented  the  record  to  King  Alfred,  A.  D.  698. 
During  the  Mohammedan  supremacy  then  suc- 
ceeding, other  adventurous  Christian  scholars  re- 
corded their  travels  in  the  Holy  Land ;  and  when 
the  Crusades  restored  the  sacred  places  again  to 
Christians,  numberless  chroniclers  penned  their 
notices ;  some  of  which  are  of  great  value  on  the 
question  we  would  investigate.  Pages  could  be 
filled  with  merely  the  names  of  those  who,  in 
later  centuries,  down  to  our  time,  have  visited 
and  written  descriptions  of  scenes  in  Palestine. 
Selecting  from  among  the  more  valuable  of  these 
honest  chroniclers,  so  far  as  their  works  are  in 
our  reach,  and  storing  our  memories  with  what 
they  have  recorded  to  aid  our,  investigation,  let 
us  go,  thus  prepared,  to  stand  amid  the  scenes 


AT   JERUSALEM.  9 

where  Christ's  apostles  baptized,  and  there  ex- 
amine for  ourselves  the  facilities  offered  for  im- 
mersion. 

Supplies  of  Water  at  Jerusalem. 

Perhaps  the  student  of  the  Xew  Testament 
finds  most  difficulty  in  accounting  satisfactorily 
for  the  immersion  of  the  great  numbers  converted 
in  the  early  days  of  Christianity  at  Jerusalem. 
The  facilities  for  the  performance  of  this  rite  in 
and  about  the  Holy  City,  therefore,  demand  the 
first  notice.  The  nearest  living  stream  to  Jeru- 
salem in  which  immersion  could  be  performed  is 
the  Jordan,  which  is  distant  fifteen  miles,  or  about 
a  five  hours'  journey ;  and  moreover  there  is  no 
natural  sheet  of  standing  water  within  the  same 
distance.  The  brook  Kedron,  often  mentioned  in 
the  Old  and  Xew  Testaments,  is,  as  the  original 
term  indicates,  nothing  but  the  bed  through  which 
the  rains  of  winter  drain  off  between  the  eastern 
wall  of  the  city  and  Mount  Olivet ;  and  its  chan- 
nel is  therefore  dry  in  the  early  spring,  several 
weeks  before  the  period,  in  the  month  of  June, 
when  the  feast  of  Pentecost  occurred.  Unfavor- 
ably situated,  therefore,  as  this  great  capital  is  in 
reference  to  natural  provisions  for  water,  as  might 
be  expected,  the  arrangements  for  an  artificial 
supply  are  on  a  scale  peculiarly  extensive.     The 


10  WATER   SUFFICIENT 

cisterns,  reservoirs,  and  pools  prepared  by  Solo- 
mon, Hezekiah,  and  Herod  (not  to  mention  other 
rulers),  for  this  purpose,  have  been  the  admiration 
of  men  from  every  part  of  the  world  in  many  a 
succeeding  age.  The  sources  from  which  this 
supply  is  obtained  are  principally  five ;  from  a 
fine  natural  fountain  or  spring  breaking  forth  from 
underneath  the  rocky  rise  on  which  the  old  temple 
stood ;  from  the  winter  rains,  gathered  as  they 
fell  into  cisterns  under  the  court-yards  of  private 
houses  and  of  public  buildings,  such  as  the  temple 
and  the  castles ;  from  the  extensive  drainage  of 
the  winter  rains  gathered  from  the  northern  and 
western  hills,  whose  slope  for  a  mile  around  con- 
verges into  the  valley  of  Gihon ;  from  a  single 
large  well,  pierced  to  a  great  depth,  in  the  valley 
of  Hinnom ;  and,  finally,  from  natural  springs  in 
the  hills  seven  or  eight  miles  south  of  the  city, 
the  waters  of  which  springs  are  gathered  first  into 
a  large  underground  reservoir,  whence  they  flow 
through  a  narrow  passage  to  three  immense  tanks 
some  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  called  "  the  Pools 
of  Solomon,"  whence,  again,  they  are  conducted 
by  a  massive  aqueduct  to  the  city.  It  should 
perhaps  be  added,  that  though  at  present  there  is 
but  a  single  natural  spring  in  Jerusalem,  and  but 
a  single  well  (and  that  a  very  deep  one  in  the 
valley  outside)  fed  by  living  springs,  yet  there 


AT    JERUSALEM.  11 

were  probably,  before  King  Hezekiah's  day,  other 
fountains  about  the  city.  Solomon  was  crowned 
at  "Gihon,"  which  Josephus  calls  "the  fountain 
of  Gihon."  Hezekiah  "  stopped  the  upper  water- 
course of  Gihon,"  and  "all  the  fountains  without 
the  city."*  Perhaps,  if  excavations  could  be 
made,  it  would  be  found  that  the  fountain  now 
gushing  so  copiously  from  under  the  ancient 
temple  area  is  furnished  by  concealed  streams 
brought  from  without  the  city.f  The  settlement 
of  this  question,  however,  is  unimportant  to  our 
present  inquiry. 

Various  Facilities  for  Baptism  common  to  most 
Eastern  Towns. 

It  is  worthy  of  a  passing  notice,  that  even  the 
cisterns  of  Jerusalem  are  not  unadapted  to  the 
rite  of  immersion.  Any  one  who  has  visited  the 
immense  ancient  reservoirs  at  Constantinople,  or 
those  about  ancient  Baiae  in  Italy,  will  have  some 
idea  of  what  is  found  throughout  Palestine,  and 
especially  at  Jerusalem.  The  visitor  descends  by 
steps  into  a  vast  subterranean  hall,  sometimes 
covering  acres  in  extent  and  supported  by  scores 

*  1  Kings  i.  33,  38  ;  2  Chron.  xxxii.  3,  4,  30.  Josephus, 
Antiq.,  VII.  14.  5. 

f  See  Robinson's  Researches.  Vol.  I.  p.  512;  and  Biblio- 
theca  Sacra,  Vol.  III.  pp.  634-638. 


12  WATER    SL'FFICIENT 

of  columns,  where  water  stands,  increasing  in 
depth  as  a  person  advances  along  the  sloping 
bottom,  offering  the  most  favorable  opportunity 
possible  for  immersion.  Such  cisterns  even  in 
Jacob's  day  seem  to  have  existed  in  this  land, 
where  they  are  so  much  needed  ;  and  the  historian 
Moses,  who  had  occasion  often  to  allude  to  them, 
deems  it  of  importance  to  mention,  that  the  one 
into  which  Joseph  was  cast  by  his  brethren  "  was 
empty,  there  was  no  water  in  it."*  Many  such 
reservoirs,  without  water,  Dr.  Robinson  describes 
on  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Gaza.f  Several 
such,  of  magnificent  size,  containing  water  deep 
enough  for  immersion,  are  found  on  the  road  from 
Jerusalem  by  the  tomb  of  Moses  to  the  Jordan.J 
Underneath  the  grotto  of  Jeremiah,  near  the  nor- 
thern wall  of  Jerusalem,  is  such  a  reservoir. 
Entering  a  side  door  and  descending  a  few  feet, 
the  traveler  finds   himself  in   a   fine  ante-room, 

*  Gen.  xxxvii.  24. 

f  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol.  II.  pp.  353,  395-398. 

J  At  a  distance  of  2h.  10m.  from  Neby  Mousa  on  the  road  to 
Jerusalem,  at  a  place  called  er-Reib  er-Rohawab,  near  the 
junction  of  Wady  Rohawah  with  "Wady  Sidr,  are  fine  springs 
of  water,  and  three  noble  reservoirs  cut  into  tbe  rocky  side  of 
tbe  valley.  Into  one,  which  is  about  25  by  40  feet,  the  en- 
trance is  by  a  doorway  and  staircase.  Another,  about  50 
feet  by  60,  has  an  open  front  and  a  gradual  slope  to  the 
water. 


AT    JERUSALEM.  IS 

twenty  or  twenty-five  feet  square,  cut  in  the  rock. 
Passing  through  a  side  door  and  descending  by  a 
stairway  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  farther,  he 
stands  in  a  large  subterranean  hall,  about  sixty 
feet  square,  whose  arched  top  is  supported  by 
columns,  and  whose  sloping  bottom  is  nearly 
covered  with  water ;  into  which  he  can  descend 
to  a  considerable  depth. 

That  such  cisterns,  and  other  facilities  for 
lathing,  were  peculiarly  abundant  about  the 
cities  of  Palestine  in  the  age  of  the  Apostles, 
Josephus  is  witness ;  who  often  mentions  the 
aqueducts,  and  baths,  and  reservoirs,  and  costly 
fountains,  which  Ilerod  before  Christ's  day  built, 
and  which  after  Christ's  day  existed  in  different 
towns  of  Judea,  as  Ascalon,  Caesarea,  and 
Herodion,  and  in  different  quarters  of  Jerusalem, 
as  under  the  towers  of  Hippicus  and  Phasaelus, 
and  of  Antonia,  "  the  castle"  into  which  Paul  was 
borne.*  That  such  baths  and  cisterns  were  used 
by  the  Apostles  for  immersion  seems  to  be  indi- 
cated by  the  Bourdeaux  Pilgrim,  who,  visiting 
the  Caesarea  where  Peter  baptized  Cornelius,  about 
three  hundred  years  after  that  event,  records, 
"There  is  the  bath  of  Cornelius  the  centurion, 
who  did  much  alms."     The  frequency  with  which 

*  Josephus,  Antiq.,  XV.  9.  4  and  6;  wars,  I.  21.  10  and 
11;  V.  4.  2;  V.  5.  8. 

2 


14  WATER   SUFFICENT 

such  reservoirs  are  met,  not  only  in  Palestine, 
but  in  Southern  Italy  and  the  whole  Levant,  re- 
moves from  the  mind  of  the  inquiring  traveler  all 
difficult}'  as  to  facilities  for  immersion  at  Jeru- 
salem, Philippi,  Corinth,  Rome,  and  elsewhere,  in 
the  Apostles'  day ;  as  from  the  mind  of  the  late 
Dr.  Judson  the  same  difficulty  was  removed  by 
observing  the  baths  in  the  jail-yards  of  Barman 
and  India.  While,  then,  the  lexicographer  finds 
the  meaning  of  the  word  used  for  this  ordinance 
to  be  immersion,  the  ancient  and  the  modern 
Christian  traveler  alike  find  no  difficulty  as  to  the 
means  for  immersion,  even  when  he  has  examined 
only  the  ordinary  conveniences  for  bathing  in  an 
Oriental  city. 

Pools  at  Jerusalem. 

Passing,  however,  these  facilities  for  immersion 
common  to  most  Eastern  towns,  observe  those 
peculiar  accommodations  offered  at  Jerusalem  in 
the  numerous  large  public  pools  of  the  city ;  six 
of  which  will  claim  our  special  notice.  In  devout 
harmony  of  soul  with  the  ancient  Psalmist,  loving 
as  he  did  the  truth  and  honor  of  God,  seeing  that 
Jerusalem's  ancient  "towers,"  and  "bulwarks," 
and  "  palaces"  are  all  laid  low,  take  we  up  the 
spirit  of  his  language  :  "  Walk  about  Zion,  and 
go  round  about  her.     See  the  pools,  mark  ye  well 


AT    JERUSALEM.  15 

her  fountains,  consider  her  flouring  waters;  that 
ye  may  tell  it  to  the  generation  following." 

1.   The  Pool  at  Bethesda. 

Proceeding  from  the  southern  brow  of  Zion, 
where  the  Spirit  of  God  is  supposed  to  have  been 
poured  on  the  disciples  of  Jesus  upon  the  memo- 
rable Pentecost,  a  few  minutes'  walk  brings  us  to 
the  north  of  the  ancient  temple* area  on  Mount 
Moriah.  Here,  in  the  open  air,  by  the  side  of 
the  wall  of  the  ancient  temple  inclosure,  is  a  long, 
broad  excavation  into  the  earth,  the  sides  of  which 
are  built  up  with  masonry  of  small  stones,  whose 
surface  is  covered  with  a  hard,  smooth  cement. 
According  to  Dr.  Robinson's  measurement  it  is 
360  feet  long,  130  feet  broad,  and  75  deep,  being 
now  partly  filled  with  rubbish.  The  natives  call 
it  "Birket  Israit? — The  Pool  of  Israel ;  and  the 
tradition  of  ages  has  declared  it  to  be  the  ancient 
Pool  of  Bethesda,  mentioned  in  Christ's  day.* 
Tacitus,  the  Roman  historian,  in  describing  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans  after 
Christ's  day,  says  of  the  temple-area  :  "  There 
were ]jooh  and  cisterns  for  preserving  rain  water. ''f 
Eusebius,  the  Christian  historian,  three  hundred 
years  after  Christ,  speaks  of  the  Pool  of  Bethesda 
thus:  "Bexatha,  a  pool  in  Jerusalem,  which  is 

*  John  v.  2.  f  Tacitus'  Hist.  VoL  II. 


1  6  WATER    SUFFICENT 

the  sheep-pool,  anciently  having  five  porticos ; 
and  now  it  is  shown  in  the  double  pool  at  the 
same  place,  one  of  which  is  filled  by  the  yearly 
rains,  aud  the  other  of  which  shows  its  water  in  a 
singular  manner,  tinged  with  red,  bearing  the 
mark,  as  they  say,  of  the  sacrificial  victims 
anciently  washed  in  it ;  for  which  reason  also  it 
is  called  the  sheep-pool,  on  account  of  the  sacri- 
fices." Jerome  a  few  years  later  wrote  :  "Beth- 
esda,  a  pool  in  Jerusalem  which  is  called  xpoSanxr 
probatike,  and  may  be  interpreted  by  us  sheep- 
pool.  This  had  formerly  five  porches  ;  and  there 
are  shown  two  lakes;  one  of  which  is  usually 
filled  by  the  winter  rains  ;  the  other  of  which,  in 
a  wonderful  manner  tinned  with  red,  as  if  by 
bloody  waters,  witnesses  the  marks  of  the  ancient 
work  done  in  it.  For  they  say  that  victims  were 
washed  in  it  by  the  priests,  whence  also  it  received 
its  name."  The  testimony  of  both  these  ancient 
inhabitants  of  Palestine  agrees,  that  at  their  early 
day  the  pool  of  Bethesda  was  well  known  that  it 
was  in  the  city,  that  it  was  so  near  the  temple  as 
to  be  convenient  for  the  washing  of  sacrifices,  that 
it  was  then  filled  with  writer,  and  that  it  was 
(though  in  two  sections  and  then  without  por- 
.ticos)  the  same  structure  as  the  single  pool  which 
once  was  surrounded  by  covered  colonnades.  The 
Crusaders,  eight  hundred  years  later,  found  two 


AT    JERUSALEM.  IT 

immense  pools  near  the  inclosure  of  the  temple, 
filled  with  water  by  rain  and  aqueducts  from  a 
distance.*  The  Greek  pilgrims  who  visited  Jeru- 
salem afterward,  and  travelers  down  to  our  day, 
describe  the  Pool  of  Bethesda  at  the  same  point. 
Dr.  Robinson,  though  differing  with  ancient  and 
modern  authorities  as  to  the  identity  of  this  pool 
with  the  ancient  Bethesda,  nevertheless  agrees  in 
all  that  is  essential  to  our  inquiry.  He  regards 
it  as  the  fosse,  excavated  for  the  defense  of  the 
fortress  Antonia,  as  rebuilt  by  Herod  the  Great ; 
saying,  however,  "  It  was  once  evidently  used  as 
a  reservoir ;"  and  again,  "  That  it  was  once  filled 
with  water  is  apparent  from  the  lining  of  small 
stones  and  cement  upon  its  sides  ;"  and  yet  again, 
"The  reservoir  has  now  been  dry  for  more  than 
two  centuries.""]"  Here,  then,  was  an  expanse  of 
water,  in  an  open  pool,  existing  before  Christ's 
day,  covering  more  than  an  acre  of  ground. 
Just  such  a  body  of  water  was  needed  for  the 
purposes  of  bathing  by  the  thousands  of  Jews  who 
of  old  came  up  to  Jerusalem,  bringing  their  oxen 
and  sheep  for  sacrifice ;  and  whether  they  entered 
by  the  eastern,  northern,  or  western  gates,  this 
immense  reservoir  was  on  their  road  as  a  conve- 
nient and  needed  place  to  perform  the  washings 

*  See  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol.  I.  p.  479,  Note  3. 
f  Researches,  Vol.  I.  pp.  429—432,  434,  490. 
9* 


18  WATER   SUFFICENT 

demanded  by  the  Law.  Accredited  historians, 
who  could  no  more  mistake  than  a  Sparks  re- 
cording the  life  of  Washington,  declare  that  the 
Jewish  priests  used  to  wash  the  sacrificial  victims 
here,  and  that  hence  it  was  called  the  "  Sheep- 
pool."  Here,  or  near  this  spot,  was  in  Christ's 
day  a  pool  so  large  that  it  had  five  covered  colon- 
nades about  it,  under  which  lay  a  great  multi- 
tude of  diseased  persons,  free  to  bathe  there  and 
have  ample  room  for  the  bath.  Here  certainly 
has  remained  since  Christ's  day  an  expanse  of 
water  furnishing  nine  hundred  and  sixty  bap- 
tisteries, each  six  feet  by  ten.  When,  therefore, 
iii  Christ's  day,  three  thousand  were  converted  at 
the  Pentecost,  and  the  converts  had  such  "favor 
with  the  people"  that  they  could  continue  "  daily 
with  one  accord  in  the  temple"  in  Christian  wor- 
ship, it  is  utterly  inconceivable  that  they  should 
find  no  facilities  for  Christian  baptism  according 
to  the  form  Christ  prescribed. 

2.  The  King's  or  Solomon's  Pool. 

Passing  now  out  of  the  eastern  gate,  from 
which  the  pool  just  described  is  but  a  stone's  throw 
distant,  descending  thence  the  steep  declivity  to 
the  bed  of  the  Kedron,  and  proceeding  from  the 
Garden  of  Gethsemane  down  the  valley  southward, 
a  ten  minutes' walk  brings  us  near  the  head  of  the 


AT    JERUSALEM.  19 

rich  bottom  which  once  formed  "the  King's  Gar- 
den.''    Here,  in  the  rocky  hill-side,   above  which 
towers  the  wall  of  the  temple,  we  descend  beneath 
the  arched  roof  of  a  natural  cave,  and  by  a  flight 
of  steps  cut  in  the  rock,  to  what  is  now  called  the 
"Fountain  of  the  Virgin."     It  is  probably  the 
"King's  Pool"  mentioned  by  Nehemiah,  to  which 
Josephus  gives  the  name  of  "  Solomon's  Pool.."* 
At  the  foot  of  the  steps  we  stand  in  a  cavernous 
chamber  "fifteen  feet  long  by  five  or  six  wide," 
and  "six  or  eight  feet  high,"  according  to  Dr. 
Robinson's  measurement.    .  From  the  side  toward 
the  temple,  through  an  arched  passage-way,  enters 
a  copious  stream  of  water,  which  goes  out  on  the 
opposite  side  through  a  passage-way  large  enough 
to  stand  up  in.     The  water  in  the  basin  formed 
by  the  floor  of  this  chamber  is  from  one  foot  to 
three  feet  deep,  any  desired  depth  being  in  a  few 
minutes  attained  by  throwing  a  slight  dam   of 
earth   and    stones  across  the   outlet ;    a  practice 
which,  as  Dr.  Robinson  observed,  is  now  resorted 
to  by  the  natives,  f     At  certain  hours  of  the  day, 
troops  of  Arab  females  from  the  opposite  village 
of  Selwan,  (the  ancient  Siloam  mentioned  in  the 
New  Testament,)  come  with  their  water-jars  on 
their  heads,  and  thronging  down  the  steps,  linger 

*  Neb.  ii.  14:  and  Jopephr?.  War?,  V.  4.  2. 
f  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol.  I.  pp.  5U0,  502. 


20  WATER    SUFFICIENT 

to  wacle  about  in  the  cool  pool  and  to  bathe  their 
feet  and  faces.*  At  other  times  it  is  so  retired, 
that  Dr.  Robinson  was  able  to  change  his  raiment, 
and,  wearing  only  a  pair  of  Arab  drawers,  to 
spend  a  considerable  time  in  examining  the  outlet 
to  the  pool  of  Siloam.  f  If  Providence  had  de- 
signed this  place  expressly  for  immersion,  there 
could  hardly  have  been  prepared  a  more  conve- 
nient and  appropriate  font ;  furnishing  as  it  does 
ample  room,  an  abundant  supply  of  water,  and 
also  (if  needed)  retirement  even  for  change  of 
raiment. 

3.    The  Pool  of  Siloam,  with  its  smaller  Eeservo'r. 

Proceeding  now  still  down  the  valley  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  farther  southward,  we  come  to 
that  spot  so  fall  of  sacred  interest,  the  "Pool  of 
Siloam."  It  is  an  open  reservoir,  built  into  an 
excavation  in  the  hill-side,  and  lined  with  hard 
cement.  It  is  fifty-three  feet  long,  eighteen  broad, 
and  nineteen  deep.  The  wall  next  the  valley  is 
now  so  broken  down,  that  not  more  than  two  or 
three  feet  of  water  stands  in  the  bottom.  The 
water  enters  from  an  arched  passage-way  high  up 
on  the  side  next  the  hill.    Mounting  the  hill  back 

*  Luke  xiii.  4.     See  Spencer's  East,  (published   at  Xew 
York,  1850,)  p.  311. 

j  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol.  I.  p.  502. 


AT   JERUSALEM.  21 

of  the  Pool,  we  find  a  smaller  reservoir,  six  or 
eight  feet  broad  and  eight  or  ten  feet  long,  having 
a  descent  by  steps  to  its  bottom.*  Into  this 
smaller  basin  the  water  comes  from  the  Pool  of 
the  Virgin  just  described ;  and  doubtless  the 
original  supply  is  from  the  gushing  source  under 
the  temple  area  and  the  aqueducts  centering  there. 
In  either  the  lower  pool  or  upper  basin,  any 
depth  of  water  may  be  readily  obtained  by  dam- 
ming temporarily  the  mouth  of  the  outlet ;  a 
practice  now  resorted  to,  as  Dr.  Robinson  has 
remarked. f  It  is  evidently  the  fountain  and  the 
reservoir  mentioned  before  the  Babylonish  cap- 
tivity by  Isaiah,  after  that  captivity  by  Xehemiah, 
and  in  the  day  of  our  Saviour  by  John  the 
Evangelist.  J  As  to  the  permanence  and  abund- 
ance of  the  supply  of  water  here  furnished,  the 
amplest  evidence  may  be  presented.  Josephus, 
describing  it  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  the  apostles, 
says  of  Siloam :  "  That  is  the  name  of  a  foun- 
tain which  hath  sweet  water  in  it,  and  that  in 
great  plenty;"  and  again,  representing  to  his 
besieged  countrymen  the  hopelessness  of  their 
holding  out  against  the  Romans,  and  exhorting 
them  to  surrender  their  city  to  Titus,  he  remarks, 

*  Ptobinson's  Researches,  Vol.  I.  p.  497. 

f  Researches,  Vol.  I.  497. 

j  Isaiah  viii.  0;  2seheuiiah  iii.  ]5;  John  ix.  7,  11. 


2 2  WATER    SUFFICIENT 

"You  know  that  Siloara,  as  well  as  the  other 
springs  without  the  city,  ....  now  have  such  a 
great  quantity  for  your  enemies,  as  is  sufficient 
not  only  for  drink  both  for  themselves  and  their 
cattle,  but  also  for  watering  their  gardens."  The 
old  Bourdeaux  Pilgrim,  who  visited  Pales- 
tine before  Constantine's  day,  after  describing 
some  things  within  the  city,  adds  :  "  The  pool 
which  is  called  Siloam  has  four  porticos  ;  there  is 
another  large  pool  without."  Of  this  pool 
Jerome  a  few  years  later  speaks,  distinguishing  the 
fountain  and  the  pool  of  Siloam.  An  interesting 
description  of  the  religious  washings  or  bathings 
at  this  place,  while  the  sacred  structures  of  the 
Christian  emperors  yet  stood,  is  given  by  Anto- 
nius  the  Martyr  in  the  sixth  century.  Speaking 
of  the  fountain  of  Siloam,  the  pious  chronicler 
says  :  "  There  is  a  circular  church  there,  from 
under  which  rises  Siloam  ;  an  inclosure  of  lattice- 
work, in  one  part  of  which  men  bathe,  and  in  the 
other,  women,  before  the  benediction  ;  in  which 
waters  many  things  are  shown,  and  even  leprous 
persons  are  cleansed.  Also  before  the  court  is  a 
vast  pool,  artificially  constructed,  in  which  the 
people  bathe  constantly,  though  at  certain  hours 
only ;  for  that  fountain  sends  forth  many  waters 
which  descend  through  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat." 
The  bathing  here  mentioned  seems  to  be  a  reli- 


AT   JERUSALEM.  23 

gions  act.  The  mind  accustomed  to  the  opinions 
of  that  age  will  readily  distinguish  between  the 
historian's  statement  of  facts  and  the  religious 
devotee's  allusion  to  signs  miraculous.  The 
abundance  of  water  supplied  for  bathing,  and  the 
freedom  with  which  it  was  thus  used,  recalls  to 
mind  Christ's  direction  to  the  blind  man,  if  it 
does  not  impress  the  scene  of  baptism  at  the 
Pentecost,  The  concurrent  testimony  of  numerous 
other  travelers  in  succeeding  ages  might  be  cited  ; 
so  that  a  chain  of  testimony  from  Christ's  day  to 
our  own  might  present  the  facilities  which  Siloam 
always  has  afforded  for  immersion.  And  when  one 
accustomed  to  honor  the  ordinance  of  baptism  in 
its  primitive  simplicity  now  stands  at  this  sacred 
spot,  and  beholds  before  him  the  copious  gushing 
fountain,  and  the  broad  tank  and  vast  pool  to  re- 
ceive it,  when  he  sees  the  freedom  with  which 
men  and  women,  by  scores,  now  come  hither,  and, 
damming  up  the  broken  wall  and  the  circular 
outlet,  bathe  their  persons,  and  wash  their 
clothing,  he  wonders  that  any  one  who  knows  that 
the  proper  meaning  of  the  word  designating  the 
ordinance  of  baptism  is  immersion,  and  who  has 
visited  this  spot,  could  hesitate  as  to  the  facilities 
for  that  rite  at  Jerusalem. 


24  WATER    SUFFICIENT 

4.    The  Old  Pool,  or  the  Upper  Pool  in  the  Highway 
of  the  Fuller's  Field. 

Having  now  surveyed  the  group  of  pools  on 
the  east  of  the  city,  we  return  to  our  starting- 
point,  where  on  the  southern  brow  of  Zion  the 
converts  of  the  Pentecost  were  gathered,  and  pro- 
ceeding again  thence,  let  us  visit  the  correspond- 
ing group  of  pools  on  the  west  of  the  city.  A 
ten  minutes'  walk  brings  us  to  the  "  Castle  of 
David,"  at  the  western  gate.  Passing  through 
that  gate,  we  proceed  up  the  gentle  ascent  north- 
west, a  distance  of  half  a  mile.  Here,  in  the 
broad  valley,  where  is  centered  the  drain  of  the 
northern  and  western  hills  for  a  mile  or  two 
around,  is  a  vast  ancient  pool  dug  into  the  earth 
and  limestone  rock,  and  its  sides  are  built  up  with 
masonry  and  lined  with  cement.  Its  dimensions, 
according  to  Dr.  Robinson,  are,  length  316  feet, 
breadth  218  feet  at  one  end  and  200  at  the  other, 
and  depth  18  feet.  It  is  probably  one  of  the 
structures  of  which  Solomon  says,  "  I  made  me 
pools  of  water  ;"  the  one  which  even  in  Isaiah's 
early  day  was  called  "the  old  pool,"  and  which 
the  same  prophet  also  speaks  of  as  "  the  upper 
pool  in  the  highway  of  the  fuller's  field;11  the  one 
also  by  which  the  Assyrian  army  encamped  in 
Hezekiah's  day,  and  from  which  that  king  brought 


AT   JERUSALEM.  25 

the  water  down  into  the  two  pools  on  the  west  of 
the  city.*  It  is,  then,  a  pool  of  very  great  antiquity. 
and  one  at  which,  when  in  proper  repair,  there 
was  a  quantity  of  water  sufficient  to  accommodate 
the  city  dyers,  to  give  drink  to  a  besieging  army. 
and  to  supply  two  other  pools  below.  It  now  re- 
ceives only  the  drain  of  the  winter  rains  from  the 
surrounding  hills ;  but  originally  it  seems  to  have 
been  supplied  by  fountains  in  the  neighborhood, 
which  Hezekiah  concealed  by  covering  up  and 
conducting  underground  their  waters,  f  Xear 
the  bottom,  on  the  side  toward  the  city,  an  under- 
ground passage  conducts  its  waters  thither.  Je- 
rome, in  the  early  Christian  times,  mentions  it, 
attributing  its  construction  to  Solomon.  The 
Crusaders  speak  of  it,  calling  it  "  Lacus  Patri- 
arch.ee"  the  Lake  of  the  Patriarch,  the  former 
part  of  the  name  probably  referring  to  its  size, 
the  latter  to  its  antiquity.  An  old  Norman 
Chronicle  lately  found  in  the  Royal  Library  of 
Paris,  and  first  published  in  1843,  a  work  con- 
taining facts  of  great  value,  speaks  of  this  pool  as 
it  existed  during  the  occupation  of  the  Holy  City 

*  Eccles.  ii.  6;  Isa.  vii.  3;  xxii.  11  j  2  Kings  xviii.  17; 
2  Chron.  xxxii.  30. 

-f-  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  14.  See  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol. 
I,  p.  514,  and  the  remarks  above,  pp.  10,  11,  on  the  "  Fountain 
of  Gihon." 


26  WATER    SUFFICIENT 

by  the  Franks,  and  represents  it  as  still  supplied 
with  water,  and  used  to  give  drink  to  the  horses 
of  the  Crusaders'  army.  *  Travelers  of  our  day, 
who  visit  Jerusalem  in  April,  a  month  after  the 
winter  rains,  find  this  pool  dry.  Dr.  Robinson 
explains  the  reason  thus  :  "  The  tank  was  now  dry, 
but  in  the  rainy  season  it  becomes  fully  Again : 
"  It  would  seem  to  be  filled  in  the  rainy  season  by 
the  waters  which  flow  into  it  from  the  higher 
ground  round  about.  Or  rather,  such  is  its  pre- 
sent state  of  disrepair  that  it  probably  never  be- 
comes full."  In  further  description  of  it  he 
says :  "  The  sides  are  built  up  with  hewn  stones 
laid  in  cement,  with  steps  at  the  corners  by  which 
to  descend  into  it."  f  Here  then,  again,  is  another 
broad  basin  of  water,  which  could  hardly  have 
been  better  adapted  to  immersion  if  it  had  been 
constructed  for  that  purpose.  It  is  retired  from 
the  city  :  it  is  broad  enough,  covering  more  than 
an  acre  and  a  half  of  ground,  to  accommodate 
any  supposable  number  of  administrators ;  and  it 
has  steps  at  the  corners  convenient  for  descent. 
In  the  days  of  Isaiah  and  Hezekiah,  and  again  in 
the  days  of  the  Crusaders,  it  was  well  supplied  with 
water,  and  now  would  be  if  a  small  sum  were  ex- 
pended in  repairing  it.     Nothing  but  the  very 

*  Wriiam's  Memoir.  Appndix,  No.  II.  Sect.  6. 
|  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol.  I.  pp.  352,  ±6-1. 


AT    JERUSALEM.  27 

perversity  of  scepticism  would  deny  the  prob- 
ability, or  doubt  the  certainty  even,  that  in  the 
days  of  Herod,  the  great  fountain  builder,  (and 
hence  in  the  time  of  Christ.)  it  furnished  ample 
facilities  for  the  immersion  of  Christian  converts.* 

5.     The  Pool  of  Hezekiah. 

Turning  our  steps  now  toward  the  city  again,  in 
a  few  moments  we  reach  the  western  gate  whence 
we  went  out.  Entering,  passing  the  Castle  of 
David,  and  bending  through  the  narrow  streets  to 
the  left,  in  two  or  three  minutes  we  stand  look- 

*  The  suggestion  may  arise  to  some  minds,  that,  when  the 
pools  of  Jerusalem  above  described  ■were  full,  the  great  depth 
of  water  would  render  them  ill  fitted  for  immersion.  This 
difficulty  will  be  removed  by  the  following  considerations. 
The  supply  of  rain-water  in  these  pools  is  now  exhausted 
(and  probably  always  was)  early  in  the  spring.  As  we  have 
seen,  on  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Robinson  and  others,  the  main 
and  permanent  supply  of  water  in  all  these  pools  is  from 
aqueducts  fed  by  springs.  Of  course  the  supply,  except 
during  the  winter  and  early  spring,  would  be  a  gradual  one, 
and  tbe  depth  of  the  water  could  be  graduated  at  pleasure. 
We  have  seen  that  this  is  now  precisely  the  fact  at  the  two 
pools  on  the  east  side  of  the  city;  the  people  keeping  the  water 
at  just  such  a  height  as  they  desire.  That  the  same  practice 
was  pursued  in  our  Saviour's  day  is  evident  :  for  the  pool  of 
Bethesda  was  then  supplied  with  just  the  amount  of  water 
sufficient  for  bathing.  Farther  on,  we  shall  perceive  that  the 
lower  pool  of  Gihon,  the  largest  of  all  these  pools,  is  adapted, 
even  when  full,  to  immersion. 


28  -WATER    SUFFICIENT 

ing  into  the  "Pool  of  Hezekiah."  The  general 
opinion  is  probably  correct,  that  this  is  the 
work  of  Hezekiah,  thus  alluded  to  in  the  sacred 
history  :^  He  "  made  a  pool  and  a  conduit  and 
"Drought  water  into  the  city."  *  Jerome  men- 
tions this  pool  as  the  Dragon  Fountain  alluded  to 
by  Nehemiah,  describing  it  as  "  at  the  west  of  the 
city,  near  Mount  Calvary."  f  The  Crusaders, 
from  its  location  evidently,  called  it  the  "  Pool  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre."  This  reservoir,  according 
to  Dr.  Robinson,  is  about  one  hundred  and  forty- 
four  feet  broad  and  two  hundred  and  forty  feet 
long.  The  natives  now  call  it  "Birket-el-Huni- 
mam,"  the  Pool  of  the  Bath ;  from  the  fact  that  a 
neighboring  bath  is  supplied  from  it.  Though 
hemmed  around  by  houses,  there  are  narrow  alleys 
by  which  its  sides  are  approached  ;  and  the  people 
freely  descend  to  wash,  and  to  fill  their  water-jars. 
Of  this  pool  Dr.  Robinson  says :  "  The  reservoir 
is  supplied  with  water  during  the  rainy  season  by 
the  small  aqueduct  or  drain  brought  down  from 
the  Upper  Pool,  along  the  surface  of  the  ground 
and  under  the  wall   at   or  near  the   Yafa  Gate. 

*  2  Kings  xx.  20. 

"f-  Jerome  on  the  article  "  Fons  Draconis."  This  mention 
of  it  as  &  fountain  seems  to  confirm  the  idea  that  the  upper 
pool  and  this  pool  were  once  supplied  by  a  fountain  called 
Gihon.     See  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol.  I.  p.  511. 


AT    JERUSALEM.  29 

"When  we  last  saw  it,  in  the  middle  of  May,  it  was 
about  half  full  of  water,  which  however  was  not 
expected  to  hold  out  during  the  summer.'''  *  The 
Rev.  George  Williams,  an  English  clergyman  who 
had  resided  fourteen  months  at  Jerusalem,  and  who 
prepared  his  works  with  the  aid  of  the  accurate  sur- 
vey made  in  1841  by  the  ordnance  corps  attached 
to  the  English  force  which  recovered  Syria  from  the 
Pacha  of  Egypt,  adds  these  particulars :  "  There  is 
a  descent  by  steps  into  it  at  the  northwest  angle  ; 
and  the  water  which  in  the  rainy  season  runs  in  from 
the  rude  aqueduct  at  the  southwest  corner,  occu- 
pies only  a  small  part  of  the  pool  at  the  south- 
east angle." f  This  latter  remark  evidently  refers 
to  the  quantity  of  water  in  the  pool  in  the  dry  season 
of  the  year ;  for  in  April  it  is  well  filled,  and  even 
to  the  middle  of  May,  as  Dr.  Robinson  mentions, 
is  well  supplied  with  water.  His  former  remark 
shows  that  the  bottom  is  sloping,  and  thus  favor- 
able for  descent  into  the  water.  Here  then,  again, 
near  where  the  apostles  stood  preaching,  is  a  pool 
which  existed  long  before  their  day,  furnishing 
even  now  an  ample  supply  of  water  for  bathing  at 

*  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol.  I.  p  4S7. 

f  Williams's  Memoir,  p.  19.  The  full  title  of  his  work  is. 
"Historical  and  Descriptive  Memoir  on  the  Town  and  Envi- 
rons of  Jerusalem.  To  accompany  the  Ordnance  Survey.  By 
George  Williams,  B.  D.,  Fellow  of  King's  College,  Cambridge 
London.  1849." 
3* 


30  WATER   SUFFICENT 

the  season  of  the  ancient  Pentecost,  having  every 
facility  for  a  gradual  descent  into  the  water,  cov- 
ering more  than  an  acre  of  ground,  so  as  to  furnish 
room  for  scores  to  enter  together,  and  still  gener- 
ally used  for  the  very  purpose  of  bathing.  It  is 
not  surprising  that  one  whose  early  prepossessions 
were  opposed  to  the  mode  of  baptism  indicated 
by  the  word  which  Christ's  apostles  used  to  ex- 
press the  rite,  has  not  mentioned  the  natural  and 
inevitable  conclusion  to  which  a  view  of  this  ex- 
panse must  lead ;  but  it  would  seem  impossible 
that  the  mind  bent  on  the  inquiry  should  fail  to  see 
the  facilities  here  offered  for  immersion. 

6.   The  Loicer  Pool  of  Gilwn. 

Retracing  our  steps  now  to  the  western  city 
gate,  and  proceeding  on  south  still  in  the  valley 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  we  come  to  the  "Lower 
Pool  of  Gihon."  It  is  rather  a  pond  than  a  pool, 
unlike  all  the  others  about  Jerusalem,  being  formed 
by  two  dams  built  across  the  bed  of  the  valley  ; 
these  dams  forming  the  ends  of  the  reservoir, 
while  its  sides  are  the  sloping  sides  of  the  valley. 
It  is  in  fact  formed  like  a  Xew  England  mill-pond ; 
except  that  it  has  a  dam  at  the  head  as  well  as  at 
the  foot  of  the  pond.  A  covered  passage  leading 
from  the  upper  pool  comes  in  at  the  upper  dam, 
and,  though  now  dry  like  the  upper  pool,  it  was 


AT   JERUSALEM.  31 

originally  supplied,  doubtless,  from  that  pool  with 
the  rain  and  spring  water  which  once  filled  it. 
The  immense  aqueduct  from  the  Pools  of  Solo- 
mon south  of  Bethlehem,  also  crosses  the  valley 
about  two  hundred  and  twenty  feet  above  the 
upper  end  of  this  pool,  and  probably  from  this 
aqueduct  a  supply  of  water  was  also  obtained; 
for  the  dam  at  the  head  of  the  pool  (or  pond) 
evidently  indicates  that  the  water  in  the  pool  was 
once  made  to  rise  above  the  ordinary  level  of  the 
valley,  so  as  to  require  a  raised  embankment  to 
restrain  its  spread.  The  dimensions  of  this  pool 
are,  according  to  Dr.  Robinson's  measurement,  as 
follows :  length  along  the  centre  592  feet ;  breadth 
at  the  north  end  245  feet ;  and  at  the  south  end 
275  feet ;  depth  at  the  north  end  35  feet,  and  at 
the  south  end  42  feet.  This  pool  has  generally 
been  regarded  as  "  the  lower  pool"  mentioned  by 
Isaiah,  and  is  probably  the  work  ascribed  to  Heze- 
kiah  by  the  prophet  Isaiah  and  the  two  historians 
of  the  Jewish  king.  *  Though  this  reservoir  is 
now  dry,  in  the  days  of  the  Crusaders  it  was  well 
supplied  with  water.  The  Norman  chronicler 
above  alluded  to  calls  it  "le  Lai  Germain,"  the 
Lake  of  Germain,  saying  that  "  Germain  had  it 
made  to  collect  the  waters  which  descended  from  the 
mountains  when  it  rained;"  and  he  adds,  "there 

*  Isa.  xxii.  9;  2  Kings  xx.  20;  2  Chron.  xxxii.  30. 


32  WATER   SUFFICENT 

the  horses  of  the  city  are  watered."*  Another 
Latin  chronicler  of  the  same  age,  (A.  D.  1177) 
calls  the  reservoir,  in  like  manner,  "  Lacus  Ger- 
mani,"  and  says  that  it  "is  common  for  the  use  of 
the  whole  city."  j*  The  reservoir  is  now  called 
Birket  es  Sultan, — the  Sultan's  Pool ;  this  desig- 
nation probably  denoting  (as  usual)  superiority, 
either  in  size  or  excellence.  Of  its  present  con- 
dition and  of  its  former  supply  of  water,  Dr.  Ro- 
binson says  :  "  A  road  crosses  on  the  causeway  at 
the  southern  end  along  which  are  fountains  erected 
by  the  Muslims,  and  once  fed  from  the  aqueduct 
which  passes  very  near.  They  were  now  dry.  . 
.  .  .  This  reservoir  was  probably  supplied  from 
the  rains  and  from  the  superfluous  waters  of 
the  Upper  Pool.  It  lies  directly  in  the  natural 
channel  by  which  the  latter  would  flow  off,  but  is 
now  in  ruins."  J 

Here   then,   again,   is   an    immense  reservoir, 

*  The  Chronicler  probably  means  simply  that  this  Germanus 
repaired  the  reservoir ;  for  William  of  Tyre,  an  earlier  writer, 
mentions  this  same  pool  as  celebrated  in  the  times  of  the 
kings  of  Judah  ;  and  the  continuator  of  William  of  Tyre  men- 
tions that  this  same  Germanus,  who  was  burgess  of  the  city 
under  Baldwin  the  Fourth,  opened  in  a  time  of  famine  the 
well  of  Job,  which  had  been  filled  up.  See  Williams's 
Memoir,  pp.  55  and  63,  and  Appendix,  No.  II.  Sect.  6. 

■f  See  Williams's  Memoir,  Appendix,  No.  II.  Sect  6. 

J  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol.  I.  pp.  485,  486. 


AT    JERUSALEM.  33 

acknowledged  by  all  to  have  existed  long  before 
the  days  of  Christ  and  of  his  apostles.  So  late 
as  the  days  of  the  Crusaders,  it  was  so  abundantly 
supplied  with  water  that  all  the  city  were  allowed 
to  use  it  freely,  and  it  was  the  great  watering- 
place  for  horses.  From  the  rains,  the  aqueduct, 
and  the  Upper  Pool,  an  ample  supply  of  water 
could  have  been  obtained  to  keep  it  full  when 
those  structures  were  in  their  perfection.  The 
pool,  of  course,  was  made  of  its  ample  dimensions 
with  the  intention  that  it  should  be  filled,  and  it 
is  a  presumption  which  no  ingenuous  mind  would 
think  of  disputing,  that  it  was,  in  its  original  per- 
fection, kept  filled.  The  days  of  the  apostles 
were  just  subsequent  to  the  time  of  Herod,  who 
repaired  with  the  greatest  care  the  reservoirs  at 
Jerusalem  and  throughout  Palestine ;  and  no 
foreign  invasion  had  between  his  day  and  that  of 
the  apostles  occurred  to  break  up  or  impair  those 
structures.  There  is,  therefore,  an  historic  cer- 
tainty, that  when  the  Spirit  of  God  was  poured 
out  at  Jerusalem,  after  Christ's  ascension,  there 
was  in  this  single  reservoir,  covering  as  it  does 
more  than  four  acres  of  ground,  and  its  sides 
having  a  slope  just  adapted  to  a  descent  for  im- 
mersion,— there  was,  in  this  single  reservoir,  ample 
room  for  all  the  seventy,  and  for  the  twelve  added, 
to  act  as  administrators  of  the  sacred  rite.     If 


34  WATER   SUFFICIENT 

then,  as  the  learned  lexicographer  seems  to  admit, 
the  only  ground  for  doubting  that  the  rite  prac- 
ticed by  the  apostles  was  immersion,  is  the  want 
of  facilities  at  Jerusalem  in  their  age  for  that 
observance,  the  sincere  inquirer  needs  no  longer  to 
stumble  at  that  imaginary  difficulty.  For,  not  the 
imaginings,  nor  even  the  personal  investigations, 
of  a  fallible  individual,  have  here  been  stated. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  plain  declarations  of 
ancient,  unprejudiced  visitors,  and  the  equally 
honest  statements  of  those  moderns  who  make  the 
objection,  have  been  brought  together,  and  have 
been  found  to  present  a  uniform  picture  by  one 
who  on  the  sacred  soil  has  sought  to  compare  and 
harmonize  their  views,  and  from  them  to  educe 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  the  Word  of  God.  And  if 
now,  after  our  survey,  you  are  in  wonder  that  two 
minds,  with  all  these  same  acknowledged  facts  be- 
fore them,  should  come  to  conclusions  so  diverse, 
let  me  ask  that  you  read  again  the  first  paragraph 
of  this  letter,  and  bear  in  mind  that  no  man  needs 
to  exercise  greater  candor  and  charity  than  he 
who  follows  over  the  footsteps  of  eminent,  but  in- 
terested travelers. 

Other  places:  Bethabara  and  Enon. 

There   are   two   or    three   other  localities    in 
Palestine  where  the  rite  of  baptism  is  said  to 


AT   BETTIABARA.  35 

have  been  administered  in  the  days  of  Christ  and 
of  his  apostles,  which  demand  a  brief  notice. 
There  are,  first,  the  two  spots  at  which  John  the 
Baptist  administered  the  rite  ;  namely,  Bethabara 
and  Enon.  The  precise  location  of  neither  of 
these  places  can  now  be  fixed  ;  yet  the  slight  in- 
deiiniteness  as  to  their  exact  situation  does  not 
at  all  impair  our  decision  of  the  main  question, 
Three  of  the  Evangelists  record  that  John  bap- 
tized "in  the  Jordan;"  couveying  the  impression 
that  in  this  stream  alone  was  the  rite  performed. 
The  evangelist  John  mentions  two  particular  lo- 
calities where  John  baptized  ;  both  of  which  there 
is  the  strongest  reason  for  believing  were  on  the 
Jordan,  so  that  the  four  Evangelists  harmonize  in 
their  statements.  Xow  the  Biver  Jordan  (as  in 
our  day  is  well  known)  is  a  stream  supplying 
throughout  its  whole  length  peculiar  facilities  for 
immersion.  Xear  ancient  Jericho  it  was  a  stream 
of  such  size,  that,  by  a  special  miracle,  God  divided 
its  waters  for  the  passage  of  Israel  under  Joshua, 
and  afterward  of  Elijah  and  Elisha.  Only  at 
particular  places  could  it  in  ancient  times  be 
forded,  while  at  other  points  it  must  be  crossed  in 
a  boat.*  Above  ancient  Succoth  and  Sichem, 
we  learn  that  in  Jacob's  age  a  river  called 
Jabbok,  so  large  that  it  must  be  passed  at  a  ford, 

*  Josh.  ii.  7 ;  Judg.  iii.  23;  2  Sam.  xis.  1;. 


36  WATER   SUFFICIENT 

joined  its  waters  to  the  Jordan  ;  so  that  the 
united  stream  must  have  been  throughout  the 
greater  part  of  its  length  of  no  small  size.  *  What 
the  Jordan  was  in  that  early  day,  it  was  in 
Christ's  age,  and  has  been  ever  since.  The 
thorough  exploration  by  Lieutenant  Lynch,  in 
the  spring  of  1848,  has  established  its  varying 
breadth  at  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet,  and  its  depth  (increasing  of  course 
ordinarily  as  the  breadth  diminishes)  from  three 
to   twelve  feet.f      The   facilities   for  immersion 

*  Gen.  xxxii.  22;  Dent.  iii.  16.  The  Yermak,  which  enters 
the  Jordan  several  miles  north  of  Bethshean,  is  "40  yards 
wide,"  and  "as  wide  and  as  deep  nearly  as  the  Jordan,"  and 
is  "crossed  by  a  bridge." — See  Lynch's  Expedition,  pp.  191, 
194,  196. 

f  Lieut.  Lynch  gives  the  average  breadth  and  depth  of  the 
Jordan  on  the  1st,  2d,  4th,  5th,  and  6th  days  of  his  descent. 
On  the  Sth  and  9th  there  are  separate  notes;  but  on  the  3d, 
and  7th  there  are  none.  The  following  are  the  details 
given  : — 

Breadth.  Depth.  pp. 

1st  day  25  to  30  yds.  175 

2d     "  40  "  2£  to  6  ft.  184 

3d    "  (rapids)    40  «  (as  the  Yermak)  191,  194 

4th   -  45  "  4  ft.  203 

5th   "  30  to  70  "  2  to  10  ft.  221 

6th   *  56  "  4  ft.  238 

7th   "         (a  short  Sabbath's  journey.) 
Sth   «  40  yds.  7  ft.  252 

9th   "  40  "  12  ft.  266 

"   -  50  "  11  ft.  267 

"  "  180  "  3  ft.  268 


AT   BETHABARA.  37 

therefore,  are,  and  always  have  been,  sufficiently 
ample  in  any  portion  of  the  stream. 

The  point  on  the  river,  near  Bethabara,  at 
which  John  first  baptized,  is  fixed  by  an  unbroken 
and  unvarying  tradition.  As  early  as  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  after  Christ's  day,  the  place  was 
known  ;  just  as  Americans  know,  and  always  will 
know,  the  spot  on  the  banks  of  James  River 
where  the  first  colony  settled,  the  place  on  the 
Delaware  where  Washington  crossed,  and  the 
point  on  the  St.  Lawrence  where  "Wolfe  landed, 
fought  and  fell.  Such  a  spot  could  no  more  be 
forgotten  than  can  Bunker  Hill.  Less  than  two 
hundred  years  after  Christ  was  baptized,  Origen, 
coming  from  Alexandria  to  visit,  as  travelers  now 
do,  the  Holy  Land,  found  the  site  then  fixed  by  a 
permanent  tradition.  Alluding  to  the  fact  that, 
in  some  of  the  manuscripts  of  his  day,  the  name 
of  this  place  was  Bethabara,  and  in  others 
Bethany,  (a  difference  arising  perhaps  from  the 
frequent  occurrence  that  a  place  changed  its 
name,  or  that  the  same  place  had  two  names,) 
Origen  says  :  "  We  were  persuaded  that  we  ought 
Dot  to  read  Bethany,  but  Bethabara,  having  been 
in  the  region  tracing  the  history  of  the  footsteps 
of  Jesus,  and  of  his  disciples  and  of  the  pro- 
phets." He  adds:  "There  is  shown,  they  say, 
on  the  bank  of  the  Jordan,  the  Bethabara  where 
4 


38  WATER   SUFFICIENT 

they  relate  that  John  baptized."  The  Latin 
pilgrim  of  A.  D.  333,  records  the  following : 
"  Thence  [from  the  Dead  Sea]  to  the  Jordan 
where  John  baptized  is  five  miles.  There  is  the 
place  above  the  river,  a  little  mount  on  the  farther 
bank,  where  Elijah  was  taken  up  to  heaven."  In 
his  day  the  place  was  known,  its  distance  being 
particularly  noted ;  and  it  was  regarded  as  the 
same  as  that  over  wilich  Elijah  passed.  The 
latter  fact  perhaps  explains  Origen's  allusion  to 
"the  prophets"  in  the  same  connection.  Eusebius 
has  the  following  note  :  "Bethabara,  where  John 
was  baptizing,  beyond  the  Jordan.  And  the 
place  is  shown  in  which,  also,  many  of  the 
brethren,  even  to  the  present  time,  are  anxious  to 
receive  the  redemption."  Jerome's  note  is  much 
the  same  :  "  Bethabara,  beyond  Jordan,  where 
John  baptized  unto  penitence.  Whence  also  even 
to  this  day  very  many  of  the  brethren,  that  is,  of 
the  number  of  those  believing,  desiring  there  to  be 
born  again,  are  baptized  in  the  life-giving  flood." 
In  his  beautiful  letter  in  memory  of  Paula,  a  devout 
Roman  female  who  had  made  a  pilgrimage  through 
the  Holy  Land,  Jerome  has  this  eloquent  passage, 
suggesting  other  historical  traditions  as  to  this 
locality :  "  Scarcely  had  night  passed  when  with 
most  fervent  ardor  she  came  to  the  Jordan.  She 
stood  on  the  bank  of  the  stream,  and,  as  the  sun 


AT    BETIIABARA.  30 

rose,  she  remembered  the  Sun  of  righteous 

how  in  the  midst  of  the  bed  of  the  river  the  priests 
plant ed  their  dry  footsteps,  and  at  the  word  of 
Elijah  and  of  Elisha,  the  waters  standing  on  either 
side,  an  open  passage  offered  itself;  and  how  the 
Lord  by  his  baptism  cleansed  the  waters  polluted 
with  mud  and  stained  with  the  slaughter  of  the 
whole  human  race."  The  Scotch  Abbot  Adam- 
nanus.  who  entertained  the  shipwrecked  French 
bishop  in  King  Alfred's  day,  about  A.  D.  698, 
gathered  from  the  pilgrim's  lips  these  particulars, 
as  the  venerable  Bede  has  transcribed  them  :  u  In 
the  place  in  which  the  Lord  was  baptized  there 
stands  a  wooden  cross  as  high  as  the  neck,  which 
sometimes  is  hidden  by  the  water  rising  above  it ; 
from  which  place  the  farther  bank,  that  is,  the 
eastern,  is  a  sling's  throw  distant ;  while  the 
hither  bank  bears  on  the  summit  of  a  little  hill  a 
large  monastery  renowned  as  a  Church  of  Saint 
John  the  Baptist ;  from  which  over  a  bridge  sup- 
ported by  arches  they  are  accustomed  to  descend 
to  that  cross  and  to  pray." 

The  river,  then,  seven  hundred  years  after 
Christ's  day,  at  the  point  of  his  baptism,  must 
have  been  several  rods  wade,  and  it  is  indicated 
that  the  depth  east  of  the  cross  was  over  a  man's 
head.  Chateaubriand,  the  modern  French  tourist, 
mentions  that  the  river  at  the  same  spot  is  "  six 


40  WATER   SUFFICIENT 

or  seven  feet  in  depth  under  the  bank,  and  nearly 
fifty  paces  (or  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet) 
in  breadth."  Dr.  Robinson,  though  he  spent  a 
day  or  two  in  the  valley,  did  not  make  any  esti- 
mate ;  but,  quoting  from  a  certain  English  tra- 
veler of  1815,  named  Turner,  he  gives  the  rough 
guess,  "  rather  more  than  fifty  feet  wide  and  five 
feet  deep."*  Lieut.  Lynch  gives  the  general 
dimensions  of  the  river  in  that  region  as  "  forty 
yards  wide  and  twelve  feet  deep." 

In  farther  description  of  his  own  impressions  at 
the  spot,  Lieut.  Lynch  records :  "  9^  o'clock 
P.  M.  We  arrived  at  'El  Meshra,'  the  bathing 
place  of  the  Christian  pilgrims.  .  .  .  This  ford 
is  consecrated  by  tradition  as  the  place  where  the 
Israelites  passed  over  with  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant, and  where  our  blessed  Saviour  was  baptized 
by  John.  Feeling  that  it  would  be  desecration 
to  moor  the  boats  at  a  place  so  sacred,  we  passed 
it,  and  with  some  difficulty  found  a  landing 
below.  My  first  act  was  to  bathe  in  the  conse- 
crated stream ;  thanking  God,  first,  for  the  pre- 

*  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol.  II.  p.  261.  The  opposing 
tradition  alluded  to  here  and  at  p.  257,  though  mentioned  by- 
English  travelers  of  the  last  half-century,  has  no  authority, 
or  even  mention,  among  the  earlier  writers;  it  was  evidently 
the  result  of  a  temporary  spirit  of  controversy  between  the 
Greek  and  Roman  Church,  and  is  now  seldom  heard  of  or 
mentioned. 


AT   BETHABARA.  41 

cious  favor  of  being  permitted  to  visit  such  a 
spot,  and  secondly  for  his  protecting  care  through- 
out our  perilous  passage.  For  a  long  time  after, 
I  sat  upon  the  bank,  my  mind  oppressed  with 
awe,  as  I  mused  upon  the  great  and  wondrous 
events  which  had  here  occurred.  .  .  .  Tradition, 
sustained  by  the  geographical  features  of  the 
country,  makes  this  the  scene  of  the  baptism  of 
the  Redeemer.  .  .  .  On  that  wondrous  day,  when 
the  Deity  vailed  in  flesh  descended  the  bank,  all 
nature,  hushed  in  awe,  looked  on, — and  the  im- 
petuous river,  in  grateful  homage,  must  have 
stayed  its  course  and  gently  laved  the  body  of  its 
Lord.  .  .  .  Over  against  this  was  no  doubt  the 
Bethabara  of  the  Xew  Testament.  .  .  .  The  in- 
terpretation of  Bethabara  is  'a  place  of  passage 
over.'  Our  Lord  repaired  to  Bethabara  where 
John  was  baptizing ;  and  as  the  ford  probably 
derived  its  name  from  the  passage  of  the  Israelites 
with  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  the  inference  is  not 
unreasonable  that  this  spot  has  been  doubly  hal- 
lowed." Speaking  of  the  caravan  of  pilgrims, 
who  came  on  the  annual  bathing-clay,  the  very 
morning  the  American  party  were  encamped 
there,  Lieut.  Lynch  says:  "The  pilgrims  de- 
scended to  the  river  where  the  bank  gradually 
slopes.    Above  and  below,  it  is  precipitous.     The 

banks  must  have  been  always  high  in  places,  and 
4* 


42  WATER   SUFFICIENT 

the  water  deep.  .  .  .  Each  one  plunged  himself, 
or  was  dipped  by  another,  three  times  below  the 
surface,  in  honor  of  the  Trinity."* 

Lieut.  Lynch  is  not  alone  among  intelligent 
Americans  who  thus  feel  and  act  at  this  sacred 
spot;  for  the  American  mind,  cultured  remote 
from  the  realm  of  superstitious  tradition  and  of 
irrational  scepticism  also,  has  learned  to  "  dis- 
tinguish things  that  differ."  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Spencer,  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  New  York, 
thus  records  his  experience  at  this  hallowed  place  : 
"  Alone  in  a  woody  and  retired  spot,  protected 
by  the  shade  of  the  sycamore,  the  ilex,  and  the 
willow,  I  disrobed  and  advanced  into  the  river. 
The  bank  is  very  declivitous,  and  in  a  few  mo- 
ments I  was  nearly  out  of  my  depth.  .  .  .  From 
the  depth  of  my  soul  I  blessed  God  for  the  privi- 
leges of  his  covenant  sealed  to  us  by  the  holy 
sacrament  of  baptism  ;  and  I  seemed  to  myself  to 
be  looking  on  the  solemn  and  touching  scene  of 
our  Lord's  baptism  by  his  messenger  whom  he 
sent  to  prepare  the  way  before  him.  Earnestly 
did  I  supplicate  that  God  of  his  mercy  would 
wash  and  purify  my  soul,  body,  and  spirit,  by  the 
blood  of  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord  ;  and  with  the 
deepest  reverence,  remembering  whom  I  was  wor- 
shiping I  bowed  my  head  beneath  the  waters  of 

*  Lynch's  Expedition,  pp.  255-263. 


AT   BETHABARA.  43 

the  Jordan  three  times,  and  pronounced  each  time 
the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  Triune  God  of  our  salvation."* 

The  most  impressive  season  for  a  visit  to  this 
hallowed  spot  on  the  Jordan,  is  during  Easter 
week,  in  the  middle  of  April,  when  a  mighty 
throng  of  from  three  to  five  thousand  persons 
goes  pouring  out  of  the  eastern  and  northern 
gates  of  Jerusalem  for  the  annual  bath.  There 
are  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  men  and  women, 
mounted  on  horses,  camels,  and  donkeys,  or  plod- 
ding on  foot.  They  are  members  chiefly  of  the 
various  branches  of  the  Eastern  Church,  Greeks, 
Armenians,  Syrians,  and  Copts,  only  here  and 
there  a  Roman  Catholic  and  a  European  traveler 
being  seen.  They  all  retain,  from  the  days  of 
their  fathers  and  of  the  apostles,  the  primitive 
ordinance  of  immersion,  and  though  they  have 
in  infancy  received  from  others  the  rite,  they  re- 
gard it  almost  indispensable  to  salvation  that 
once  in  their  lives  they  be  immersed,  on  profession 
of  their  own  faith,  in  the  very  spot  where  Jesus 
was  baptized.  Hence  that  immense  multitude  is 
every  succeeding  year  an  entirely  new  one ;  pil- 
grims gathered  from  Russia  to  Egypt,  and  from 
Greece  to  India.     A  Turkish  guard  of  four  hun- 

*  "  The  East,"  by  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Spencer,  p.  392.     New 
York,  1S50. 


44  WATER   SUFFICIENT 

dred  men,  with  the  governor  of  Jerusalem  at  their 
head,  goes  to  guard  the  host  from  intestine  strifes, 
and  from  attacks  of  the  desert  Arabs.  The  slow 
march  of  so  vast  a  throng  through  the  various 
defiles  leading  to  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  occu- 
pies the  first  day.  The  night  encampment  is  near 
ancient  Jericho,  four  or  five  miles  from  the  sea. 
At  midnight  the  whole  camp  is  roused,  and,  a 
hasty  breakfast  being  partaken,  the  traveler 
mounts  into  his  saddle,  and  by  one  o'clock  all  are 
moving  toward  the  sacred  stream  at  the  thrice 
sacred  spot  where  Israel  crossed,  where  Elijah 
passed,  and  where  John  baptized  the  Son  of  God. 
So  tediously  slow  is  the  movement  of  the  motley 
throng  in  the  dark,  that  the  gray  dawn  is  stream- 
ing along  the  eastern  mountain  peaks  ere  the 
river  is  in  sight.  Then,  with  a  headlong  rush,  all 
hasten  to  plunge  in  the  turbid  waters ;  laying 
aside  on  the  banks  their  upper  garments,  wading 
out  to  their  middle  in  the  stream,  and  then  plung- 
ing themselves  forward  three  times  beneath  the 
waters.  In  the  sacred  rite,  strong  youths  support 
persons  tottering  and  trembling  with  age,  and 
parents  plunge  their  little  children,  while  vigorous 
men  swim  off  beyond  their  depth,  breasting  the 
rapid  current  and  again  and  again  bowing  their 
heads  beneath  the  reverend  tide.  The  Christian 
scholar,  as  he  stands  and  gazes  on  the  impressive 


AT    BETHABARA.  45 

scene,  learns  that  important  distinction  made  by 
the  apostles  of  Christ  between  traditions  which 
are  history  and  traditions  which  are  superstition  ;* 
separating  the  true  from  the  false,  clipping  the 
text  of  history  from  the  added  gloss  of  bigotry ; 
sifting  the  kernel  of  the  permanent  and  valuable 
from  the  mere  chaff  of  the  temporary  and  worth- 
less. Historical  traditions,  as  to  objects  of  sight 
and  of  permanent  existence,  are  as  sure  and  as 
valuable  in  the  land  of  our  Saviour  as  in  the  land 
of  Sesostris,  of  Alexander,  of  Ca?sar,  of  Charle- 
magne, of  Alfred,  or  of  Washington.  The  primi- 
tive mode  of  baptism,  the  spot  where  our  Lord 
received  it,  the  identity  of  that  spot  with  scenes 
in  the  lives  of  patriarchs  and  prophets, — these  are 
objects  of  sight,  matters  of  historical  fact,  and  the 
tradition  in  reference  to  them,  like  all  other  per- 
manent historical  traditions,  is  the  surest  of  all 
testimony  and  the  most  worthy  of  credit.  It  is 
testimony,  in  fact,  of  such  a  kind,  that  to  reject 
it  would  be  to  leave  the  whole  past  without  any 
basis  of  certainty.    There  can  be  no  question  that 

*  Compare  Stephen's  reference  to  Moses's  learning,  Paul's 
allusion  to  Jacob's  leaning  on  his  staff,  and  to  Jannes  and 
Jambres,  and  Jude's  mention  of  Michael,  Balaam,  and 
Enoch,  &c,  -where  historical  traditions  are  confirmed  as  true, 
■with  Christ's  statement  as  to  the  religious  "traditions  of  the 
elders."  Mark  vii.  3-13;  Acts  vii.  20-22;  2  Tim.  iii.  8; 
Heb.  xv  21:  Jude  ix.  15. 


-■':■  WATER    SUFFICIENT 

John  selected  as  :  e  of  his  preaching  and 

baptism  the  point  on  the  Jordan  where  the  great 
route  of  travel  from  Jerusalem  and  Jericho  to  the 
important  cities  beyond  the  river  crossed  ;  a  spot 

ivorable  to  gather  hearers,  and  at  the  same 
time  furnishing  facilities  for  immersion.  In  that 
age  the  spot  bore  a  name  so  general  in  signifi- 
cation, and  so  changeable  in  form,  that  before 
Ori  gen's  day  it  began  to  be  supplanted  by  another 

ilar  import;*  and  afterward,  for  the  same 
:>nd  name  also  disappeared.  The 
only  important  fact,  the  locality  of  our  Lord's 
-  known  long  after  its  transitory  name 
I  away ;  just  as  the  spot  where  the 
Pilgrims  landed  will  a  thousand  years  hence  be 
certainly  fixed,  although  even  now  only  the  anti- 
quary knows  that  its  original  name  was  Pawtuxet. 

E'\on. 

The    second    locality    where    John   baptized, 
called  E  ton,  cannot  with  so  much  precision  be 
I  ined.   Yet  the  followi:._  mi  be  estab- 

lished :  i:   was   situated  on  the  Jordan;  it   was 

*  The    signification   usually    assigned    to    Betltalara    is 
"  house  or  place  of  the  ford  or  ind  that  of  Bethany 

(the  name  Origen  rejected)  is  "house  or  plate  of  sh: 
two   being   equivalent. —  Sea     Robinson's    X.    Test.    Greek 

LsJCU  ML 


AT    BN09.  4  7 

eight  Roman   or  about  seven  and  one  third  E   - 

glish  miles  south  of  ancient  Bethshean  or  -  - 
thopolis  ;  and  it  was  at  or  near  the  great  thorough- 
fare from  Galilee  and  Samaria  across  the  Jordan 
to  the  important  cities  on  the  other  side.  That 
it  was  on  the  Jordan  is  implied  in  the  fact,  that 
no  one  of  the  Xew  Testament  writers  mentions 
any  other  water  than  the  Jordan  in  which  John 
baptized.  Eusebius  and  Jerome  describe  the  lo- 
cation as  well  known  in  their  early  day ;  implying 
that,  for  the  three  hundred  previous  years  since 
Christ's  day,  the  place  had  always  been  marked. 
The  former  makes  this  record  :  "  Jinon,  near  to 
Alim,  where  John  baptized,  as  in  the  Gospel  ac- 
cording to  John.  And  even  to  the  present 
time  the  place  is  shown,  eight  miles  from  8  - 
thopolis,  toward  the  south,  near  to  Salim  and  the 
Jordan."  The  latter  records  :  "  J^non,  near  Salim, 
where  John  baptized,  as  it  is  written  in  the  Gos- 
pel according  to  John;  and  the  place  is 
shown,  at  the  eighth  milestone  from  Scythopolis 
at  the  South,  near  Salim  and  the  Jordan. ??  The 
testimony  of  these  ancient  writers,  who  li- 
near the  time  of  Christ,  and  had  such  ample  op- 
portunities for  investigation,  fixes  the  site  of  En :  d 
on  the  Jordan,  and  at  seven  and  one  third  English 
miles  south  of  ancient  Scythopolis,  or  Bethshean, 
whose  ruins  yet  remain  a  distinct  laQdmar-k. 


48  WATER    SUFFICIENT 

ing  the  name  of  Beisan.  Among  more  modern 
authors,  Brocardus,  in  the  later  period  of  the 
Crusades,  makes  this  mention  of  it :  —  "Before 
Mount  Galaad,  toward  Jezreel,  which  is  on  the 
northern  side  of  Mount  Gilboa,  a  level  road  passes 
from  Jordan  at  Salim,  where  John  baptized. 
From  Bethsan  there  are  two  Gallic  miles  (nearly 
three  English)  toward  the  west  to  Jezreel."  A 
reference  to  Dr.  Robinson's  map  will  show  that 
this  road  must  have  passed  all  along  the  north- 
western slope  of  Mount  Gilboa,  through  the  plain 
to  the  river  ;  and  that  it  was  at  the  point  upon  the 
Jordan  where  the  great  thoroughfare  from  West- 
em  Galilee  and  Samaria  crosses  it,  that  John  se- 
lected his  favorable  location  for  baptizing.  Burk- 
hardt  has  the  following  on  the  general  locality. 
Of  Beisan  he  says :  "  The  ancient  town  was 
watered  by  a  river  now  called  Moiet  Bysan 
(Waters  of  Beisan),  which  flows  in  different 
branches  through  the  plain."  "  The  town  is  built 
along  the  banks  of  the  rivulet."  Having  spoken 
of  the  mountain  range  north  of  Beisan,  he  says  : 
"  At  one  hour  distant  to  the  south,  the  mountains 
begin  again."  Burkhardt  crossed  the  Jordan, 
two  hours  distant  (about  six  miles)  from  Beisan, 
from  which  point  its  ruins  lay  north-northwest. 
It  was  the  2nd  of  July,  in  midsummer,  when  he 
crossed  ;  and  at  that  season  he  found  the  stream 


AT    ENON.  49 

"80  paces  broad  and  3  feet  deep."  lie  adds: 
"  the  river  is  fordable  in  many  places  during  sum- 
mer, but  the  few  spots  where  it  may  be  crossed 
in  the  rainy  season  are  known  only  to  the  Arabs. 
The  river,  for  three  hours  from  the  lake  [Tiberias], 
flows  on  the  west  side  of  the  valley,  then  on  the 
eastern,  and  at  two  hours  south  of  the  ford  returns 
to  the  western  side.  Near  where  we  crossed,  to 
the  south,  are  ruins  called  Lukkot."  Burkhardt's 
statement  as  to  the  waters  of  the  Beisan  does  not 
interfere  with  Josephus's  statement,  that  the  val- 
ley was  without  water  except  the  Jordan  ;*  since 
what  he  calls  a  river  in  one  sentence  he  calls  a 
rivulet  in  another.  As  he  crossed  evidently  near 
the  place  where  John  baptized,  his  statement  as 
to  the  size  of  the  stream  is  valuable.  His  men- 
tion of  the  direction  of  the  river  from  Beisan, 
nearly  due  south,  shows  that,  according  to  Euse- 
bius  and  Jerome's  statement,  Enon  might  be  south 
of  Beisan,  and  yet  on  the  Jordan.  We  learn,  also, 
that,  at  the  point  where  John  baptized,  the 
valley  ran  near  the  eastern  mountains,  having  on 
the  west  a  plain  where  a  habitable  town  would 
naturally  stand.  We  see  from  his  statement,  also, 
that  John's  place  of  baptizing  could  not  have  been 
far  from  the  thoroughfare  by  which  Jacob  and  his 
family  and  flocks  crossed. 

*  Josephus,  Wars,  IV.  8.  2. 


50  WATER    SUFFICIENT 

Dr.  Robinson  thus  describes  Am  Jalud,  "a 
very  large  fountain"  near  Jezreel,  which  is  about 
eight  miles  northwest  of  Beisan  :  "  It  spreads  out 
at  once  into  a  fine  limpid  pool  forty  or  fifty  feet 
in  diameter,  in  which  great  numbers  of  small  fish 
were  sporting."  In  speaking  of  the  stream  which 
passes  Beisan  he  says  :  "  This  would  seem  prob- 
ably to  be  the  rivulet  which  comes  down  from  the 
valley  of  Jezreel."  *  While  this  account  shows 
that  in  Palestine  there  are  pools  and  other  places 
where  immersion  might  be  practiced,  it  of  course 
furnishes  no  information  as  to  Enon,  which  was 
eight  Roman  miles  south  of  Beisan.  The  cele- 
brated English  travelers,  Irby  and  Mangles,  make 
the  following  statements  on  this  locality:  "At 

one  hour  and  twenty  minutes  from  Bysan 

the  depth  of  the  ford  reached  above  the  bellies  of 
the  horses.     "We  measured  the  breadth  and  found 

it  140  feet About  half  a  mile  to  the  south 

is  a  tomb  on  a  barrow  called  Sheikh  Daoud." 

The  expedition  of  Lieut.  Lynch,  during  the 
spring  of  1848,  has  added  some  important  partic- 
ulars to  what  was  before  known  as  to  this  local- 
ity. In  his  account  of  the  day  previous  to  his 
passing  the  section  of  the  river  where  Enon  must 
have  been  situated,  he  records,  that,  near  their  en- 

*  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol.  III.  pp.  167,  168,  175. 


AT    BNON.  51 

camping'  place  (which  on  the  map  is  two  or  three 
miles  below  Beisau),  "the  river  describes  a  series 
of  frantic  curvilinears,  and  returns  in  a  contrary 
direction  to  its  main  course.  "  "  The  river  aver- 
aged to-day  forty-five  yards  in  width,  and  four 
feet  in  depth."  The  land  party  who  visited  Bei- 
sau, not  far  from  that  town  "  came  to  quite  a 
large  stream,"  evidently  the  same  mentioned  above. 
The  following  day,  during  which  the  position  of 
ancient  Enon  must  have  been  passed,  Lieut.  Lynch 
seems  to  have  passed  the  most  enchanting  region 
on  the  river.  Of  this  day  he  says  :  "  The  river, 
from  its  eccentric  course,  scarcely  permitted  a 
correct  sketch  of  its  topography  to  be  taken.  It 
curved  and  twisted  north,  south,  east,  and  west, 
turning,  in  the  short  space  of  half  an  hour,  to  every 
quarter  of  the  compass,  seeming  as  if  desirous  to 
prolong  its  luxuriant  meanderings  in  the  calm 
and  silent  valley."  "  Here  and  there  were  spots 
of  solemn  beauty.    The  numerous  birds  sang  with 

a  music  strange   and  manifold Above  all, 

yet  attuned  to  all,  was  the  music  of  the  river, 
gushing  with  a  sound  like  that  of  shawms  and  cym- 
bals  At  times  we  issued  from  the  shadow 

and  silence  of  a  narrow  and  verdure-tented  part 
of  the  stream  into  an  open  bend,  where  the  rapids 
rattled,  and  the  light  burst  in,  and  the  birds  sang 
their  wild  wood  song."     Over  and  over,  with  a 


52  "WATER   SUFFICIENT 

spirit  resembling  that  of  romance,  the  almost 
enchanted  navigator  repeats  the  varied  beauties 
of  that  day's  progress. 

Knowing  now,  as  we  do,  from  the  ancient 
Christian  writers,  that  in  the  midst  of  this  very- 
scene  stood  "Enon,"  who  can  fail  to  see  where  the 
descriptive  John  obtained  his  expression  "  many 
waters"  or  "  much  water,"  for  these  interminable 
windings  of  the  river  certainly  gave  many  a  shady 
retreat,  and  a  shallow,  gentle  flow,  for  the  ad- 
ministering of  immersion  ;  and  those  "  rattling- 
rapids"  and  dashing  cataracts  are,  in  their  appro- 
priate measure,  "the  voice  of  many  waters." 
Further  on,  in  reference  to  this  same  day's  jour- 
ney, Lieut.  Lynch  says :  "  In  our  course  to-day 
we  have  passed  twelve  islands,  all  but  three  of 
diminutive  size,  and  noted  fourteen  tributary 
streams,  ten  on  the  right  [or  west]  and  four  on 
the  left  bank.  With  the  exception  of  four,  they 
were  trickling  rivulets."  "  The  width  of  the  river 
was  as  much  as  seventy  yards,  with  two  knots 
current,  and  narrowed  again  to  thirty  yards,  with 
six  knots  current ;  the  depth  ranging  from  two  to 
ten  feet."  "About  five  miles  nearly  due  west  from 
the  camp  were  the  ruins  of  Succoth."  Lieut.  Lynch 
has  so  much  of  his  own  impressions  to  record  this 
day,  that  he  has  mentioned  little  or  nothing  of  the 
observations  of  the  land  party,  except  that,  on 


at  enon.  53 

account  of  the  mountain  range  running  near  the 
river,  they  were  obliged,  most  of  the  day,  to  travel 
far  to  the  west  of  the  stream.  This,  however,  they 
were  not  obliged  to  do,  until  farther  south  than 
the  site  of  ancient  Enon. 

It  was  the  happy  lot  of  your  correspondent,  four 
days  afterward,  on  Tuesday,  April  18th,  18-48, 
to  meet  the  party  at  the  Pilgrim's  bathing-place 
below,  when  Dr.  Anderson  became  his  companion 
to  Jerusalem.  Particular  inquiries  were  made  as 
to  the  shape  of  the  country,  and  as  to  other  par- 
ticulars. No  stream  or  fountain  was  met  by  the 
party  during  the  day  on  which  they  traversed  the 
plain  where  Enon  once  stood.  Xo  relic  of  such 
a  name  seems  to  remain.  The  permanent  record 
of  the  early  Christians,  sanctioned  by  the  New 
Testament  writers,  and  confirmed  by  all  subsequent 
observations,  leaves  no  doubt  that  Enon  was  at 
a  passage  of  the  Jordan  in  the  romantic  region 
above  described,  and  at  a  point  which  might  be 
accurately  ascertained  by  any  one  who  should 
measure  the  distance  from  Beisan.  It  was  my  de- 
sign to  visit  this  locality,  a  few  days  after  meeting 
the  party  on  the  Jordan,  and  personally  to  ex- 
amine it ;  but  on  arriving  within  a  day's  journey 
of  the  region,  no  persuasion  or  offer  of  money 
could  prevail  on  my  Arab  attendants  to  venture 
into  the  dangerous  neighborhood.  The  replies  to 
5* 


54  WATER   SUFFICIENT 

my  inquiries,  however,  and  my  own  distant  scan- 
ning of  the  region  from  mountain  summits,  left 
an  impression  hardly  less  definite  and  satisfactory 
than  a  personal  visit  could  have  given. 

The  Place  where  Philip  baptized  the  Eunuch. 

Yet  one  more  locality  in  Palestine  mentioned 
as  the  scene  of  Christian  baptism  in  the  time  of 
the  Apostles  demands  notice  ;  namely,  the  place 
on  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Gaza  where  the 
Ethiopian  eunuch  was  baptized  by  Philip.  !No 
spot  in  Palestine  was  marked  with  more  interest 
and  more  particularity  by  the  early  Christian  pil- 
grims and  Christian  scholars.  The  Bourcleaux 
Pilgrim,  less  than  three  hundred  years  after  the 
event,  described  with  care  its  situation.  His  note 
is  (as  he  advances  from  Bethlehem)  :  "  Thence  to 
Bethazsora  is  fourteen  miles,  where  is  the  fountain 
in  which  Philip  baptized  the  eunuch.  Thence  to 
the  oak  where  Abraham  dwelt  is  nine  miles. 
Thence  to  Hebron  is  two  miles."  Eusebius,  on 
the  word  Bethsur,  has  the  followipg  note :  "  Beth- 
sur  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  or  Benjamin.  There  is  also 
now  a  village  Bethsoran,  twenty  miles  distant 
from  Jerusalem  toward  Hebron,  where  also  a 
fountain  issuing  from  a  mountain  is  shown,  in 
which  the  eunuch  of  Candace  is  said  to  have  been 
baptized  by  Philip.     There  is  also  another  Beth- 


FOR   BAPTIZING    THE    EUNUCH.  55 

Bur  in  the  tribe  of  Jiulah,  distant  one  mile  from 
the  city  of  Eleutheropolis."  Jerome  in  like  manner 
says  on  the  same  word  :  "  Bethsnr  in  the  tribe  of 
Judah  or  Benjamin.  And  there  is  at  this  day  a  vil- 
lage Bethsoron,  to  ns  going  from  Jerusalem  to 
Hebron,  at  the  twentieth  milestone ;  near  which 
a  fountain,  boiling  up  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain, 
is  absorbed  by  the  same  soil  from  which  it  springs  ; 
and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  record  that  the 
eunuch  of  Queen  Candace  was  baptized  in  this  by 
Philip.  There  is  another  village  Bethsnr  in  the 
tribe  of  Judah,  a  mile  distant  from  Eleutheropolis." 
In  his  beautiful  eulogy  on  Paula,  the  Eoman  pil- 
grim, Jerome  records :  "  She  began  to  pass  over 
the  ancient  way  which  leads  to  Gaza,  the  power  or 
the  riches  of  God,  and  in  silence  to  revolve  with 
herself  how  the  Ethiopian  eunuch,  prefiguring  the 
people  of  the  nations,  had  changed  his  skin ;  and 
while  she  read  again  the  ancient  document,  she 
found  again  the  fountain  of  the  Gospel.  And 
thence  she  passed  to  the  right.  From  Bethsnr  she 
came  to  Escol,  which  is  translated,  the  grape-clus- 
ter  And  she  ascended  to  Hebron."     In  the 

days  of  the  Crusaders  the  same  locality  was  fixed. 
Brocardus,  A.  D.  1283,  records:  "From  Hebron 
it  is  reckoned  three  Gallic  leagues  [four  and  a 
half  Roman  miles]  toward  the  north,  declining  a 
little  to   the  west,   to  Nehel-Escol,  that   is,   the 


56  WATER    SUFFICIENT 

torrent-bed  of  the  grape-cluster,  whence  the 
spies  bore  the  branch  of  the  grape :  Xurn.  xiii.  23, 
24,  25.  A  t  the  left  of  this  valley  through  half 
a  league  [three  quarters  of  a  Roman  mile]  de- 
scends the  stream  in  which  Philip  baptized  the 
eunuch  of  Queen  Candace,  not  far  from  Sicelech. 
From  Nehel  Escol  it  is  reckoned  eight  leagues 
[twelve  Roman  miles]  to  the  house  of  Zachariah." 
At  a  later  period,  (perhaps  for  the  reason  that 
Bethsur  was  a  general  name,  and  given  to  differ- 
ent places,  perhaps  also  from  a  spirit  of  contro- 
versy between  the  Eastern  and  Western  Christians, 
or  for  convenience,)  the  location  of  the  tradition- 
ary spot  was  changed ;  as  Sinai  was  in  like  man- 
ner changed  to  Serbal.  *  Hence  several  succeed- 
ing modern  writers,  as  Quistorpius,  Pococke, 
and  Buckingham,  describe  the  fountain  of  Philip 
as  being  in  a  valley,  which  Pococke  states  to  be 
"about  six  miles  north-northwest  of  Bethlehem." 
Dr.  Robinson  doubts  the  authority  of  the  early 
tradition  ;  intimating  the  two  objections,  that  the 
Itinerary  of  the  Bourdeaux  Pilgrim  makes  Beth- 
sur eleven  Roman  miles  from  Hebron,  whereas  it 
is  but  six  miles  to  the  site  he  himself  (doubtless 
correctly)  has  marked  for  Bethsur,  and  again,  that 
the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Gaza  could  not  have 

*  Alluded  to  in  Robinson's   Researches,  Vol.  I.  pp.  173- 
186. 


FOR   BAPTIZING    THE    EUNUCH  57 

passed  that  way.  *     As  to  the  first  difficulty,  it  is 
doubtless   explained  by   Jerome,    who   describes 

Paula  as  turning  to  the  right  in  going  from  Beth- 
sur  to  Escol,  evidently  making  a  circuit  around 
the  mountain  interposed,  instead  of  going  directly 
over  it.  The  Bourdeaux  Pilgrim  is  precisely  ac- 
curate in  the  other  distances  he  mentions ;  for  his 
six  miles  from  Jerusalem  to  Bethlehem  and  his 
fourteen  miles  from  Bethlehem  to  Bethsur  make 
the  twenty  miles  of  Eusebius  and  Jerome  ;  and 
his  two  miles  from  the  oak  of  Abraham  to  Hebron 
agrees  precisely  with  the  forty  minutes  occupied 
by  Br.  Robinson  in  passing  over  the  same  ground. "j* 
As  to  the  second  objection,  Reland  will  reply 
to  it.  Dr.  Robinson  marks  another  locality, 
Tellel-Hasy  (which  is  also  on  the  road  from 
Jerusalem  to  Gaza  by  way  of  Hebron),  suggesting 
that  there  is  a  sufficient  expanse  of  water  for  the 
administration,  though  he  does  not  describe  its 
size.J  Many  others  equally  favorable  might  be 
mentioned  on  the  same  road ;  but  the  authority 
of  Eusebius  and  Jerome,  as  to  the  precise  locality 
where  the  rite  was  administered,  cannot  be  disre- 
garded where  baptism  is  concerned,  any  more  than 
where  the  site  of  an  old  Roman  town,  as  Eleu- 

*  Researches,  Vol.  I.  p.  320. 

t  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.  p.  429. 

J  Ibid.   Vol  II.  pp.  3S0,  641. 


58  WATER    SUFFICIENT 

theropolis,  is  to  be  determined.  The  best  au- 
thority in  Biblical  geography  of  modern  times, 
Belaud,  speaking  of  Bethsar,  regards  the  locality 
mentioned  by  Eusebius  and  Jerome  to  be  the 
same  as  that  mentioned  among  the  mountains  be- 
tween Jerusalem  and  Hebron  in  Joshua's  time, 
which  was  afterward  fortified  by  Rehoboam.* 
He  thinks  it  also  the  same  as  the  Bath  sura  forti- 
fied by  the  Maccabees,  which  is  described  as  "in 
Iduruea,"'  and  again  as  "on  the  borders  of  Judea;'' 
while  he  regards  the  mentioned  distance,  "five 
furlongs  from  Jerusalem,"  either  to  be  a  mistake, 
or  to  refer  to  another  fortress,  f  As  to  the  road 
to  Gaza  and  the  locality  where  the  eunuch  was 
baptized.  R  eland's  language  is:  "Near  this  vil- 
lage there  is  fountain  boiling  up  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  and  in  which,  they  say,  the  eunuch  of 
Queen  Candace  was  baptized.  [See  Eusebius  in 
his  Ononiasticon  and  the  Jerusalem  Itinerary.] 
This  tradition  Cellarius  argues  to  be  false,  because 
the  Ethiopian  was  not  going  in  the  way  leading 
to  Hebron,  but  in  the  way  leading  to  Gaza,  which 
declines  far  to  the  west  of  Hebron.  But,  though 
Gaza  may  lie  to  the  west  of  Hebron,  the  roads 
were  not  always  constructed  straight  through  the 

*  Josh.  xv.  5S  and  2  Chron.  xi.  7. 

f  1  Mac.  iv.  29,  61;  vi.  7,  26,  31,  49;  ix.  52;  xir.  7,  33; 
also,  2  Mac.  xi.  5,  etc. 


FOR   BAPTIZING    THE    EUNUCH.  59 

shortest  routes  ;  nor  do  I  think  that  by  this  cir- 
cumstance the  authority  of  this  tradition  is  di- 
minished. I  acknowledge  that  a  route  might  be 
established  from  Jerusalem  to  Gaza,  first  toward 
the  west  as  far  as  the  plains  of  Juclah,  and  then 
through  the  region  bordering  on  the  shore  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  to  Gaza.  TVe  know  also  that 
formerly  (whether  as  early  as  the  time  at  which 
the  eunuch  lived  that  third  route  existed  is  un- 
certain) journeys  were  made  from  Jerusalem  to 
Eleutheropolis,  and  thence  to  Ascalon,  and  so  on 
to  Gaza.  This  follows  from  the  Itinerary  of 
Antonine.  But  that  through  Hebron  also  the 
journey  to  Gaza  was  made,  follows  from  the  fact, 
that  in  almost  all  the  itineraries  of  the  moderns 
we  read  that,  if  any  one  journeyed  from  Jerusa- 
lem to  Gaza,  they  went  through  Hebron  thither ; 
never,  so  far  as  I  know,  through  the  plains  bor- 
dering on  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea." 

With  reason  does  Reland  express  the  doubt 
whether  the  route  by  Eleutheropolis  existed  in 
the  eunuch's  day;  since  according  to  Dr.  Robinson 
that  town  is  not  mentioned,  even  by  its  name 
Betogabra,  until  the  beginning  of  the  second 
century  after  Christ,  nor  by  its  later  and  more 
important  name  till  the  fourth  century.  On  the 
Article  "JElia  Gazam,"  From  Jerusalem  to  Gaza, 
Reland  presents  the  same  view  again.     On  the 


60  WATER   SUFFICIENT 

word  Gaza  he  expresses  the  opinion,  that  the 
word  "  desert,"  in  Acts  viii.  26,  refers  to  the  city. 
not  to  the  route.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  how- 
ever, that  the  designation,  coming  as  it  does  from 
the  pen  of  Luke,  is  peculiarly  applicable  to  the 
route  by  Hebron ;  for  the  same  writer  uses  the 
same  word,  in  the  same  general  sense,  and  in 
describing  the  same  region,  when  he  mentions 
that  John  the  Baptist  was  reared  "in  the  deserts;" 
the  home  of  John's  parents,  according  to  Dr. 
Robinson,  being  at  Jutta  near  Hebron.* 

Starting  now  from  Jerusalem  on  the  route  thus 
indicated,  let  us  view  the  facilities  for  immersion 
along  its  course,  and  especially  at  the  spot  where 
history  has  fixed  the  eunuch's  baptism.  Pro- 
ceeding on  horses,  at  the  ordinary  rate  of  three 
Roman  miles  an  hour,f  in  two  hours  and  thirty 
minutes  we  reach  the  three  immense  pools  of 
Solomon,  from  which  water  was  conducted  to  Jeru- 
salem. In  Christ's  day  they  were  little  lakes  of 
water,  for  the  three  cover  about  three  acres  of 
ground,  J  and  when  filled  they  furnished  all  needed 
facilities  for  immersion,  lying  open,  as  they  do, 
and  in  a  retired  valley.  Even  now,  such  is  the 
quantity  of  water  in  the  lower  pool,  that  a  more 

*  See  Luke  i.  80. 

f  See  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol.  I.  p.  545. 

J  Ibid.  Vol.  II.  p.  165. 


FOR    BAPTIZING    THE    EUNUCH.  Gl 

convenient  place  for  the  sacred  ordinance  could 
hardly  be  desired.  Proceeding  thence  over  hill 
and  dale,  and  through  one  long  valley,  which, 
from  the  number  of  its  wells,  the  muleteers  call 
"  \Yady-el-Beer,"  the  Valley  of  Wells,  in  one 
hour  and  fifty  minutes  more  we  stopped  on  a  hill- 
side to  water  our  horses,  and  to  drink  at  a  large 
reservoir  with  an  arched  roof,  from  which  the 
water  is  drawn  up  with  a  bucket.  Of  this  place 
Dr.  Robinson  says  :  "  The  road  up  the  ascent  is 
artificial ;  half  way  up  is  a  cistern  of  rain  water, 
and  an  open  place  of  prayer  for  the  Mohammedan 
travelers. ':*  At  this  spot  immersion  would  not 
be  difficult.  Descending  thence  into  the  fine 
valley  before  us,  crossing  it,  and  ascending  on  the 
opposite  side,  in  thirty-five  minutes  more  we 
reached  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  town,  which  our 
muleteer  calls  Howoffnee,  but  which  Dr.  Robinson 
has  marked  Abu  Fid;  mentioning  "olive-trees 
and  tillage  around,  and  a  reservoir  of  rain  water,  "f 
This  reservoir  lies  in  the  open  field,  with  a  grassy 
brink  around  it.  It  is  fifty  or  sixty  feet  square, 
and  it  is  now,  in  the  last  of  April,  full  of  water, 
the  depth  being  apparently  from  three  to  five 

*  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol.  I.  p.  320.  The  water  is  evi- 
dently sprtng-wsLter,  rather  than  rain-water;  for  it  is  slightly 
tinctured  with  the  limestone  of  the  hills. 

|  Ibid.,  Vol.  I.  p.  320. 
6 


62  WATER   SUFFICIENT 

feet.  It  is  evidently  ancient,  the  walls  being  built 
up  of  large  hewn  stones.  A  fitter  place  for  im- 
mersion could  not  be  desired.  Along  in  front  of 
the  old  town  and  pool,  a  fine  old  Roman  road, 
paved  with  stone  and  having  neat  curbing  stones 
at  the  side,  may  be  traced  in  the  grass  some  dis- 
tance down  the  hill-side  toward  Jerusalem ;  as 
evident  a  carriage-road  as  is  the  old  Appian 
Way  now  seen  south  of  Rome.  Proceeding  on- 
ward, through  a  country  quite  open  and  con- 
siderably cultivated,  in  one  hour  and  five  minutes 
we  reach,  at  the  foot  of  a  long  and  steep  hill,  the 
ruins  of  a  fortress  or  church  on  the  left  of  our 
road.  The  structure  is  perhaps  fifty  feet  front, 
and  sixty  feet  long.  Within  there  are  the  remains 
of  two  large  halls,  with  an  arched  ceiling.  The 
stones  of  the  building  are  massive,  some  of  them 
eight  feet  long  and  two  feet  square.  There  are 
three  door-ways  in  front.  In  some  respects  it  re- 
sembles a  fortress,  in  others  an  ancient  church. 
On  the  hill  side,  half  a  mile  southwest,  is  another 
less  ruined  fortress.  The  one  near  us  is  called, 
by  the  shepherds  keeping  their  flocks  here,  Anee- 
ed-Dirweh,  and  the  other,  Es-Soor-ed-Dirweh. 
In  front  of  the  fortress  by  us  is  a  fine  gushing 
fountain  of  sweet  water,  and  broad  stone  troughs 
in  which  we  water  our  horses.  This  spot  has 
been  fixed  on  by  Dr.  Robinson  as  the  Bethsur 


FOR  BAPTIZING   THE   EUNUCH.  63 

mentioned  by  Eosebius  and  Jerome  as  the  place 
where  the  eunuch  was  baptized.*  Halul,  men- 
tioned next  to  Bethsur  in  the  list  of  towns  of 
Joshua's  age,f  stands  on  the  hill  top,  a  mile  or 
more  distant,  still  called  Hulhul  by  the  natives. 
The  distance,  which  we  have  made  six  hours  by 
horse  or  eighteen  Roman  miles  from  Jerusalem 
on  the  direct  route,  agrees  well  with  the  twenty 
miles  of  the  ancient  route,  which  bent  easterly 
through  Bethlehem.  The  ground  in  front  of  the 
fountain  and  of  the  structure  behind  it  is  so 
broken  up  and  covered  with  stones,  that  it  is 
difficult  to  determine  what  was  once  here.  There 
is  now  a  slightly  depressed  hollow,  with  a  sandy 
or  gravelly  bottom.  It  is  hardly  conceivable  that, 
in  the  days  of  Herod,  the  fountain-builder,  this 
most  favorable  spring  should  not  have  been  made 
to  supply  a  pool  in  this  land  of  such  structures ; 
and  even  now  water  sufficient  to  supply  such,  a 
reservoir  flows  from  the  troughs,  and  soaks  into 
the  soil ;  as,  according  to  Jerome's  mention,  in 
his  day  it  seems  also  to  have  been  absorbed.  That 
there  was  an  ancient  and  even  a  modern  route 

•  Robinson's  Researches,  Vol.  I.  p.  320,  note.  Under  the 
word  Beth-tsur,  in  Robinson's  edition  of  Gesenius's  Hebrew 
Lexicon,  the  name  Beit-Sur  is  said  also  to  be  applied  to  ed- 
Dirweh. 

j-  Joshua  xv.  58. 


64  WATER    SITFICENT,    ETC. 

from  Jerusalem  to  Gaza  by  Hebron,  Reland  and 
the  ancient  Christian  writers  have  shown  ;  and, 
what  is  more,  even  now  the  usual  route  from 
Jerusalem  to  Gaza  is  by  Hebron.  If  the  traveler 
at  Gaza,  for  instance,  hires  horses  and  mules  to 
Jerusalem,  the  understanding  is,  that  the  journey 
is  to  be  made  by  Hebron,  as  the  smoother  and 
safer  road ;  and  an  extra  price  must  be  paid  to 
go  by  the  more  direct,  though  rougher  and  more 
dangerous  route.  That  an  ancient  "  chariot11 
road  passed  this  way,  the  observant  traveler  will 
often  perceive  on  his  journey.  Dr.  Robinson 
twice  between  Hebron  and  Jerusalem,  notices 
this  ;*  and  we  have  traced  even  plainer  evidences. 

The  task  to  which  you  invited  me  is  at  length 
finished;  having  swelled  into  a  more  extended 
labor  than  was  at  first  anticipated.  If  the  con- 
clusions here  suggested  shall  seem  to  be  just, 
awakening  in  the  minds  of  other  inquirers  the 
same  confident  and  cheering  faith  they  have  be- 
gotten in  the  mind  of  the  writer,  it  will  be  an 
ample  requital  both  for  the  toil  of  the  study  and 
for  the  fatigues  of  the  journey. 

Yours  as  ever, 

G.  W.  S. 

*  Researches,  Vol.  I.  pp.  316,  320;  "the  path  is  here 
paved,"  <fcc. ;  and  "the  road  is  artificial." 


BUNSEN'S 


VIEW  OF   BAPTISM, 


Intinit  nnb  3ft  oh  mi 


BY  REV.  IRAII  CHASE,  D.  D. 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

530    ARCH    STREET. 


Entered    according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1853,  by  the 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in 
and  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


STEREOTYPED   BY   GEORGE   CHARLES, 
PRINTED   BY   KING   k  BAIRD. 


INTRODUCTION. 


An  ancient  Greek  work,  recently  found  among 
the  literary  treasures  on  Mount  Athos  by  an 
agent  from  the  Royal  Library  at  Paris,  was  pub- 
lished at  Oxford,  in  1851.  At  first,  it  was  as- 
cribed to  Origen;  but  strong  reasons  have  been 
brought  forward,  by  the  Chevalier  Bunsen  and 
others,  for  believing  it  to  be  from  the  pen  of  the 
learned  Hippolytus,  Bishop  of  Portus,  near 
Home,  who  had  personal  intercourse  with  Ire- 
nseus,  near  the  close  of  the  second  century,  and 
honored  him  as  his  teacher.  The  examination  of 
the  newly  discovered  work  called  up  afresh  to  the 
Chevalier's  mind  his  ample  studies  in  early  eccle- 
siastical history ;  and  it  led  him  to  prepare,  with 
remarkable  promptitude,  his  publication  entitled, 
"Hippolytus  and  his  Age;  or,  The  Doctrine 
and  Practice  of  the  Church  of  Rome  under 
Coramodus   and    Alexander   Severus :   and  An- 

(3) 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

cient  and  Modern  Christianity  and  Divinity  com- 
pared." Commodus  and  Alexander  Severus  were 
Emperors  of  Rome,  the  one  late  in  the  second 
century,  and  the  other  early  in  the  third. 

In  1854,  the  author  issued  a  new  edition,  and 
made  it  constitute  the  first  two  of  his  seven  vol- 
umes on  "Christianity  and  Mankind,  their 
Beginnings  and  Prospects;"  a  production  rich 
in  antiquarian  and  philological  learning,  and  ac- 
knowledged by  all  to  be,  on  many  deeply  inter- 
esting subjects,  one  of  the  most  able  and  earnest 
discussions  in  modern  times.  In  his  opinion,  the 
recently  discovered  work  of  Hippolytus,  embrac- 
ing as  it  does  copious  extracts  from  fifteen  pre- 
ceding authors  whose  works  are  lost,  doubles  our 
means  of  knowing  the  actual  condition  of  the 
early  Christian  churches,  up  to  about  the  year 
236  of  the  Christian  era.  Hence  the  vast  labor 
which  he  has  expended  in  examining  its  results, 
and  their  application  to  the  various  Churches  of 
modern  Christendom. 

The  view  of  Baptism  that  so  distinguished  a 
man  presents,  in  this  survey  of  a  most  important 
period  of  ancient  church  history,  ought  to  be 
known,  and  set  in  a  proper  light.  His  character 
and  position,  as  will  soon  be  perceived,  entitle 
him  to  a  respectful  hearing.  Whoever  also  has 
known  him  personally  in  private,  must  remember 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

him  with  much  esteem  and  love.  And  yet,  let  it 
never  be  forgotten,  there  is  a  higher  authority 
than  he. 

We  have  before  us  a  copy  of  the  Liturgy  which 
was  prepared  under  his  eye,  if  not  by  himself,  for 
the  use  of  the  chapel  of  the  Prussian  Embassy  at 
Home,  while  he  was  ambassador  there.  On  a 
blank  leaf  at  the  beginning  of  a  copy  presented 
by  him  to  the  writer  of  this  tract,  in  connection 
with  expressing  in  German,  that  the  book  was 
presented  by  him  for  Christian  remembrance, 
on  the  Capitoline  Hill,  at  Rome,  March  30,  1833, 
there  is  written,  also  with  his  own  hand,  an  ab- 
breviation in  Greek,  indicating  Christ  the  First 
and  the  Last. 

New  historical  investigations  are  bringing  forth 
new  testimonies  to  the  principles  and  observances 
of  the  early  churches.  Thanks  to  the  Prussian 
ambassador,  and  to  others  who  have  labored  with 
diligence  and  fidelity,  and  have  spoken  with  free- 
dom! At  the  same  time,  it  becomes  us  and  all 
Christians  to  keep  in  mind  our  only  authoritative 
rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  and  not  only  to  know 
the  truth,  but  also  to  obey  it. 


The  passages  referred  to,  in  the  following  pages, 
can  easily  he  found  in  Bunsen's  second  edition,  hy 
consulting  the  list  of  correspondencies  here  pre- 
sented : 


FIRST    EDITION. 

Vol.  II.,  p.  104. 
Vol.  II.,  p.  108. 
Vol.  III.,  p.  179. 
Vol.  III.,  p.  198. 
Vol.  III.,  p.  211. 
Vol.  III.,  p.  201. 
Vol.  III.,  p.  240. 
Vol.  III.,  p.  209. 


SECOND 

Vol.  IV 
Vol.  IV 
Vol.  II 
Vol.  II 
Vol.  II 
Vol.  II 
Vol.  II 
Vol.    II 


EDITION. 

,  p.  275. 
,  p.  278. 
,  p.  105. 
,  p.  117. 
,  p.  125. 
,  p.  119. 
,  p.  143. 
,  p.  124. 


(6) 


BUNSEN'S 

VIEW  OF  BAPTISM, 

ANCIENT  AND  MODERN. 
CHAPTER   I. 

INFANT  BAPTISM  TO  BE  RETAINED,  THOUGH  u  NEI- 
THER SCRIPTURAL  NOR  APOSTOLICAL." 

In  the  work  of  the  Chevalier  Bunsen,  on  Hip- 
polytus  and  his  age,  we  have  a  striking  ex- 
emplification of  our  proneness  to  justify,  in  some 
way,  the  unwarrantable  practices  which  we  do  not 
like  to  abandon.  The  author  has  long  occupied  a 
distinguished  position  in  the  literary  world.  It 
will  be  recollected  that,  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years, 
he  was  the  Prussian  ambassador  at  Home ;  and 
afterward,  for  several  years,  at  London.  He  has 
enjoyed  uncommon  facilities  for  prosecuting  his  fa- 
vorite studies;  and  he  has  prosecuted  them  with 
commendable  zeal.  As  a  conscientious  investigator 
of  ecclesiastical  antiquities,  he  acknowledges,  with 

CO 


3  BTJN8EN  S   VIEW    Of    BAPTISM, 

entire  frankness,  tliat  Infant  Baptism  was  un 
known  till  after  the  end  of  the  second  century; 
and  yet,  as  a  member  of  the  Established  National 
church  of  Prussia,  he  would  have  it  retained. 

.  Hippolytus  was  an  ancient  Christian  writer,  who 
was  born  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century, 
and  who  died  "a  martyr  in  the  reign  of  the  empe- 
ror Maximin,  about  A.  D.  236.  The  work  which 
we  have  mentioned  as  treating  of  him  and  his 
times,  consists  of  four  volumes,  published  at  Lon- 
don, in  1S52.  It  exhibits  abundant  evidences 
of  erudition ;  and  it  discusses  a  great  variety  of 
matters  respecting  which  it  is  not  our  design  now 
to  say  any  thing.  What  follows  may  be  sufficient 
for  the  present. 

In  the  second  volume,  (p.  104,)  after  mention- 
ing the  leading  antagonisms  of  the  Protestant 
Reformed  churches  with  respect  to  the  Komish 
church  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  author  proceeds 
thus  :  "  But  there  are  also  internal  antagonisms  in 
the  Reformed  churches  themselves,  contradictions 
between  the  principle  of  the  Reformation  and  its 
logical  consequences,  on  the  one  side,  and  the  for- 
mularies and  ecclesiastical  institutions  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  on  the  other.  The  first  internal  con- 
tradiction consists  in  this :  The  Reformation  ap- 
pealed to  Scripture  alone,  and  accepted  only  with  a 
general  reserve,  the  creeds  of  the  Councils.  .  .  .  The 


ANCIENT    AND    MODERN.  9 

"Reformation  accepted  in  a  similar  way  Pedobap- 
tism,  although  its  leaders  were  more  or  less  aware 
that  it  was  neither  scriptural  nor  apostolic."  In 
-peaking  of  antagonisms  between  Apostolic  Chris- 
tianity and  the  systems  of  the  Reformed  churches, 
he  says,  (p.  108  :)  "  The  theories  respecting  Pedo- 
baptism,  according  to  any  of  those  systems,  would 
be  perfectly  unintelligible  to  the  ancient  churches, 
and  cannot  be  brought  into  harmony  with  their 
consciousness  and  monuments,  except  by  fictions 
and  conventionalities.  But  these  fictions  and  con- 
ventionalities are  also  required  for  our  own  age ; 
and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  on  the  whole  they  prove 
inefficacious  and  insufficient,  and  do  not  satisfy  the 
public  conscience.  Those  who  deny  this  fact,  show 
as  much  an  ignorance  of  the  real  state  of  the  world 
as  of  the  nature  of  Christianity. ". 

The  picture  which  the  author  gives  of  the  usage 
in  the  apostolic  times  must  not  be  overlooked. — 
(Vol.  III.  p.  179  :)  "  The  Church  adhered  rigidly 
to  the  principle,  as  constituting  the  true  purport 
of  the  baptism  ordained  by  Christ,  that  no  one  can 
be  a  member  of  the  communion  of  saints,  but  by 
his  own  solemn  vow  made  in  presence  of  the  church. 
It  was  with  this  understanding  that  the  candidate 
for  baptism  was  immersed  in  water,  and  admitted 
as  a  brother,  upon  his  confession  of  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.     It  understood  bap 


10  bunsen's  view  of  baptism, 

tism,  therefore,  in  the  exact  sense  of  the  First 
Epistle  of  Peter,  (iii.  21,)  not  as  being  a  mere 
bodily  purification,  but  as  a  vow  made  to  God  with 
a  good  conscience,  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 
This  vow  was  preceded  by  a  confession  of  Christian 
faith,  made  in  the  face  of  the  church,  in  which  the 
catechumen  expressed  that  faith  in  Christ  and  in  the 
sufficiency  of  the  salvation  offered  by  Him.  It  was 
a  vow  to  live  for  the  time  to  come  to  God  and  for 
his  neighbor,  not  to  the  world  and  for  self;  a  vow 
of  faith  in  his  becoming  a  child  of  God  through 
the  communion  of  his  only  begotten  Son  in  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  a  vow  of  the  most  solemn  kind,  for  life 
and  for  death.  The  keeping  of  this  pledge  was  the 
condition  of  continuance  in  the  church ;  its  infringe- 
ment entailed  repentance  or  excommunication.  All 
church  discipline  was  based  upon  this  voluntarj 
pledge,  and  the  responsibility  thereby  self-imposed. 
But  how  could  such  a  vow  be  received  without  ex- 
amination? How  could  such  examination  be 
passed  without  instruction  and  observation  ?  As  a 
general  rule,  the  ancient  church  fixed  three  years 
for  this  preparation,  supposing  the  candidate,  whe- 
ther heathen  or  Jew,  to  be  competent  to  receive 
it.  With  Christian  children  'the  condition  was  the 
same,  except  that  the  term  of  probation  was  cur- 
tailed according  to  circumstances.  Pedobaptism, 
in  the  more  modern  sense,  meaning  thereby  bap« 


ANCIENT   AND    MODERN.  11 

tism  of  new-born  infants,  with  the  vicarious  pro- 
mises of  parents  or  other  sponsors,  was  utterly  un- 
known to  the  early  church  ;  not  only  clown  to  the 
end  of  the  second,  but  indeed  to  the  middle  of  the 
third  century." 

In  closing  his  representation  of  the  lamentable 
change,  the  author  makes  the  following  remark, 
(p.  198,)  which  ought  not  to  be  forgotten:  "When 
the  church  attached  rights  and  promises  of  bless- 
ing to  any  thing  except  to  the  conscious  abandon- 
ment of  sin,  and  to  the  voluntary  tow  of  dedicating 
life  and  soul  to  the  Lord,  the  consciousness  of  sin 
and  the  longing  for  real,  truthful  reformation  died 
away  in  the  same  proportion  among  her  mem- 
bers." 

After  this,  and  much  more  of  a  similar  charac- 
ter, that  might  be  quoted,  who  would  expect  to 
find  what  presents  itself  on  a  subsequent  page  ? 
"(p.  211  :)  "  Upon  closer  and  deeper  reflection,  it 
will  appear  wise  to  retain  Pedobaptism,  but  to  re- 
model the  whole  baptismal  discipline  on  the  follow- 
ing principles : 

"  To  this  end,  in  the  first  place,  the  doctrine  of 
biblical  baptism  must  be  reformed  in  the  sense  of 
the  German  church,  and  of  the  doctrinal  works 
of  Schleiermacher,  Xeander,  Nitzsch,  and  the  Ger- 
man school  in  general.  According  to  this  view, 
our  act  of  baptism  forms  a  whole,  the  commence- 


12  bunsen's  view  of  baptism, 

ment  of  which  is  the  sprinkling  of  the  child,  the 
conclusion  the  pledge  of  the  grown  up  and  in- 
structed young  Christian,  sealed  by  a  blessing." 

Does  any  unsophisticated  mind  need  to  be  in- 
formed that  what  is  here  proposed  involves  an  ut- 
terly inadmissible  abuse  of  language  ? 

But  let  us  hear  the  next  proposal :  "  In  the 
second  place,  the  superstition  that  such  children 
of  Christian  parents,  as  die  of  tender  age  unbap- 
tized,  are  under  damnation,  from  which  they  must 
be  rescued  by  baptism,  is  to  be  put  down  for  ever 
by  bringing  forward  its  true  corrective."  Excel- 
lent !  For  the  accomplishment  of  this  we  hope 
and  fervently  pray. 

The  author  proceeds :  "  This  can  only  be  done 
by  positively  and  practically  realizing  the  idea  that 
the  baptism  of  new-born  children  is  the  outward 
sign  of  the  vow  of  the  parents  to  dedicate  their 
child  to  God,  as  his  gift,  entrusted  to  them ;  and- 
to  prepare  it  by  a  Christian  education  for  becoming 
a  member  of  the  Christian  church,  until  it  be  it- 
self able  to  profess  the  faith  in  Christ,  and  to  make 
the  vow  of  a  godly  life  dedicated  to  God  and  the 
brethren." 

Certainly,  parents  should  dedicate  themselves, 
and  their  children,  and  all  with  which  they  have 
been  entrusted,   to  God.     Certainly,  they  should 


ANCIENT    AND    MODERN.  13 

bring  up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admoni- 
tion of  the  Lord.  But  is  it  right,  by  performing 
a  ceremony  on  them  in  unconscious  infancy,  to  de- 
prive them  of  the  baptism  divinely  appointed  for 
the  disciple  deliberately  and  devoutly  professing 
faith  in  the  Saviour?  Why  prevent  them  from 
receiving,  when  they  become  disciples  of  Christ, 
the  benefit  of  putting  on  Christ  according  to  his 
appointment,  and  of  being  able  to  remember  the 
impressive  act  all  their  days  ? 

Baptism  is  a  sign;  and,  as  such,  it  has  been 
appropriated  by  our  Lord,  and  made  to  occupy  a  spe- 
cific and  prominent  place  in  his  religion.  Now,  to 
remove  it  from  that  place,  and  appropriate  it  to 
another  purpose ;  to  make  it,  arbitrarily,  the  sign 
of  some  other  thing,  (no  matter  how  good  the 
thing  may  be,)  than  that  of  which  He  has  made  it 
the  sign;  and,  especially,  to  do  this  so  as,  in  effect, 
to  supersede  and  annul  the  baptism  which  he  has 
ordained — can  not  meet  with  His  approbation. 
Manifestly,  it  cannot  be  the  "  true  corrective"  of 
the  evil  deplored.  Few,  we  are  confident,  very 
few  among  those  who  regard  His  authority  and 
His  claims,  and  who  have  duly  considered  His 
design  in  the  ordinance,  can  think  it  quite  safe  to 
conclude  that  "the  doctrine  of  biblical  baptism  must 
be  reformed  in  the  sense  of  the  German  church." 
2 


14  bunsen's  view  op  baptism, 

The  "true  corrective"  must  be  sought  in  ascertain- 
ing the  truth  relative  to  what  He  has  required ; 
and,  when  ascertained,  in  following  it  with  consci- 
entiousness, and  with  a  dutiful  reliance  on  his  wis- 
dom and  grace. 


ANCIENT   AND    MODERN.  15 


CHAPTER    II. 

ANCIENT   BAPTISM   AND    MODERN. 

In  the  former  part  of  this  tract,  after  adducing 
from  the  Chevalier  Bunsen's  very  learned  work 
relative  to  Hippolytus  and  his  Age,  some  passages 
in  remarkable  harmony  with  the  opinions  of  the 
Baptists,  it  was  intimated  that  much  more  of  a 
similar  character  might  have  been  quoted. 

Still  passing  over  much  in  the  picture  given  under 
the  general  head  of  the  Christian  School  and  Bap- 
tismal Vow,  where,  among  other  things,  the  au- 
thor calls  special  attention  to  the  fact  that,  accord- 
ing to  a  professedly  apostolical  constitution  as 
received  in  the  church  at  Alexandria,  even  the 
youngest  of  those  who  were  to  be  baptized  were  such 
as  had  been  instructed  in  Christianity;  and  as  such 
could  go  into  the  water  with  the  other  candidates, 
although  they  more  frequently  and  to  a  greater 
extent  than  these,  might,  perhaps  from  the  embar- 
rassing excitement  of  the  occasion,  need  assistance 
or  substitutes  in  making  the  necessary  responses; — 
passing  over  all  this,  we  would  now  present  the 
greater  part  of    the   statements  respecting   "  An- 


16  BUNSEN'S    VIEW    OF    BAPTISM, 

dent  Baptism  and  Modern,"  that  occur  in  the 
section  entitled  "  The  Churches  of  the  present  day 
reflected  in  this  Picture."  The  extract  begins 
with  the  paragraph  on  the  201st  page  of  the 
third  volume;  and  a  few  notes  have  been  sub- 
joined. 


"  But  if  you  look  a  little  closer  into  the  ecclesi- 
astical condition  of  the  two  ages  [the  early  period 
and  the  later  down  to  the  present,]  are  you  not 
overpowered  by  one  predominant  feeling  ?  And  is 
this  not  the  feeling,  that  in  the  one  age  we  find, 
upon  the  whole,  connection,  reality,  internal  and 
external  truth;  in  the  other,  little  else  but  patch- 
work and  ruins,  shams  and  phantoms  ?  That  in 
the  one  case  a  real  life  was  lived,  a  life  of  free- 
dom, as  to  the  church  and  as  to  the  individual ; 
that  in  the  other,  conventionalism  is  fostered, 
or  rather  in  most  instances  maintained  by  fire 
and  sword,  by  the  tyranny  of  the  state  churches, 
or  by  the  unthinking  superstition  of  habit?  and 
that  such  a  state  of  things  is  most  ill-advisedly 
vaunted  as  possessing  vitality,  or  even  most  impu- 
dently proclaims  itself  perfect  and  infallible  ? 

"  The  ancient  baptism  comprised,  on  gospel 
grounds,  four  spiritual  elements — instruction,  ex- 
amination, the  vow,  the  initiation.  To  each  of 
these  elements  was  attached  a  sacred  symbol,  an 


ANCIENT    AND    MODERN.  17 

externally-working  act  of  the  church,  who,  by 
means  of  her  bishops  and  elders,  ordained  in  the 
place  of  God.  To  instruction,  the  blessing  cor- 
responded ;  to  examination,  the  imposition  of 
hands ;  to  confession,  immersion  in  water ;  to  the 
vow  for  life  and  death,  the  unction  as  priest  and 
king.* 

"  It  is  impossible  but  that  this  ceremony  should 
have  produced  a  great  general  impression,  which 
was  not  diminished  if  the  initiated  were  the 
child  of  Christian  parents.  The  act  was  his  own, 
as  much  as  it  was  in  the  case  of  a  convert  from 
heathenism.  .  .  .  The  baptism  of  new-born  infants 
grew  out  of  "that  of  children  advancing  towards  the 
age  of  boyhood.  From  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit, 
which  Christ  instituted,  people  relapsed  into  cere- 
monial law,  and  fell  back  upon  the  shadow  of  a 
Jewish  custom,  which  had  ceased  to  be  binding 
with  the  extinction  of  the  nation,  and  now  was 
made  a  sanction  for  the  religion  of  the  new  cove- 
nant of  Humanity. 

"  In  consequence  of  this  alteration  and  com- 
plete subversion  of  its  main  features,  brought  about 

*  Our  author  seems  not  to  be  aware  of  the  evil  that  was 
even  then  beginning  to  enter.  "Would  that  man,  without  di- 
vine authority  for  the  purpose,  had  never  presumed.  "  in  th* 
place  of  God,"  to  ordain  symbolical  additions  and  supposed 
amendments  to  what  our  Lord  himself  instituted  ! 


18  bunsen's  view  of  baptism, 

principally  by  the  Africans  of  the  third  -  century, 
and  completed  by  Augustine,  [by  or  before  A.  D. 
428,]  these  natural  elements  have  been  in  the 
course  of  nearly  fifteen  centuries,  most  tragically 
decomposed,  and  nothing  is  now  remaining  any 
where  but  ruins.  In  the  East,  people  adhere  to  im- 
mersion, although  this  symbol  of  Man  voluntarily 
and  consciously  making  a  vow  of  the  sacrifice  of 
self,  lost  all  meaning  in  the  immersion  of  a 
new-born  child.  The  Eastern  Church,  moreover, 
practised  the  unction  immediately  after  the  immer- 
sion, although  that  unction  implies  even  more  than 
immersion,  man's  full  consciousness;  and  is  to  be 
the  seal  of  a  free  pledge — -of  a  responsible  act.  Yet 
the  Eastern  Church  requires,  nevertheless,  the  gen- 
eral recognition  of  both,  as  necessary  to  salvation, 
and  denies  there  is  any  efficacy  in  the  Western 
form  of  baptism. 

"  The  Western  Church,  under  the  guidance  of 
Home,  abolished,  together  with  adult  baptism,  its 
symbol,  immersion,  and  introduced  sprinkling  in 
its  stead.  She.  retained  unction,  the  chrisma,  by 
way  of  confirmation,  and  separated  the  two  acts, 
[baptism  and  confirmation;]  so  that,  at  all  events, 
a  beginning  of  consciousness  and  instruction  may 
be  assumed  to  be  implied  as  a  justification  of  the 
subsequent  ceremony.  Yet  with  this  she  rigidly 
maintained  in  her  teaching,  as  the  effect  of  the  net 


ANCIENT    AND    MODERN.  19 

of  baptism,  all  the  consequences  which  the  gospel 
and  the  Ancient  church  so  undeniably  and  authen- 
tically connect  with  the  previous  instruction  and 
the  voluntary  conscious  vow.  The  doctrine  of  Au- 
gustine was  completed  and  stereotyped  by  Thomas 
Aquinas.  The  practice  of  the  Latin  church  has 
equally  little  correspondence  with  the  custom  and 
spirit  of  the  Ancient,  as  regards  unction.  The 
postponement  of  this  solemnity  is  a  recognition  of 
the  principle ;  but  even  the  legal  age  of  seven  is 
much  too  early  a  period  to  show  that  the  ceremony 
is  not  to  be  an  opus  operatum,  but  the  voluntary 
act  of  the  conscious  mind.  And  still,  the  practice 
prevailing  in  exclusively  Catholic  countries,  of 
bringing  children  of  four  and  five  years  old  to  the 
bishop  to  be  confirmed,  proves  how  little  the  pro- 
per idea  to  be  conveyed  by  the  act  is  seriously  at- 
tended to ;  and  more  strongly  still,  how  little  im- 
pression it  has  made  on  the  popular  mind.  What- 
ever improvement  has  been  effected  in  this  practice 
in  France,  and  to  a  still  greater  extent  in  Catholic 
Germany,  by  way  of  preparation  for  the  first  com- 
munion, (the  admission  to  which,  according  to  the 
idea  of  the  ancient  church,  is  expressed  directly  by 
the  unction,)  is  due,  as  history  asserts,  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Reformation  on  the  formation  of  the 
popular  customs. 

'•But  what  did  the  Reformation   itself?     The 


20  bunsen's  view  op  baptism, 

Reformers  retained  the  doctrine  of  Augustine,  to 
gether  with  pedobaptism.  It  is  true,  nevertheless, 
that  they  regarded  the  baptism  of  new-born  infants 
merely  as  an  offering,  a  dedication  of  the  children 
by  their  parents ;  as  a  vicarious  act,  and  as  the 
first  step  only  in  a  process  which  was  actually  to  be 
completed  by  themselves  in  riper  years,  after  their 
Christian  education  was  finished,  through  their 
own  voluntary  confession  and  vow.  AVe  are  in- 
debted to  Luther  especially  for  this  correct  concep- 
tion ;  and  the  having  worthily  and  rationally  car- 
ried it  out,  is  the  most  blessed  work  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Church  of  the  German  nation.*  Confirma- 
tion is,  at  the  present  moment,  together  with  the 
principle  of  intellectual  liberty,  the  Bible,  and  the 

*  Perhaps  our  author,  unconsciously,  attributes  too  much 
of  what  he  deems  to  be  the  "  correct  conception"  of  baptism  to 
the  great  Reformer  and  his  associates.  Luther  endeavored  to 
give  evangelical  life  and  character  to  Confirmation,  but  left 
baptism  very  much  as  he  had  found  it  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
church.  Only  he  would  ascribe  to  faith  what  the  Papists  as- 
cribed to  the  external  act  performed.  And  in  order  to  main- 
tain the  consistency  of  infant  baptism  with  his  great  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith,  he  supposed  that  faith  is  infused  into 
infants  in  answer  to  the  prayer  of  the  church  presenting  them 
in  baptism  and  believing.  On  this  assumption,  he  taught 
that  infant  baptism  "is  truly  efficacious,  and  confers  the  adop- 
tion of  the  sons  of  God."  See  "Baptismal  Tracts  for  the 
Times,"  pp.  235  and  186;  and  DAubigne's  "History  of  the 
Reformation,"  B.  VI.  c.  6. 


ANCIENT   AND    MODERN.  21 

hymns,  the  principal  means  of  keeping  alive  Ger- 
man Protestantism.  But,  at  the  same  time,  the 
doctrine  of  the  sacraments  did  not  admit  Confirma- 
tion as  one  of  them.  Consequently,  it  was  not 
held  to  be  necessary  to  salvation,  because  not  pre- 
scribed in  the  gospel ;  which,  however,  is  equally 
silent  upon  the  subject  of  the  sprinkling  of  chil- 
dren. Thus  the  essential  points  in  the  gospel  and 
in  the  practice  of  the  apostles,  faith  and  self-sacri- 
fice, have  been  placed  lower  in  the  scale  than  the 
sprinkling,  which  was  adopted  instead  of  immer- 
sion ;  and  the  personal  act  has  been  held  in  less 
estimation  than  its  substitute.  This  may  be  com- 
patible with  the  Komish  doctrine  of  good  works, 
but  is  as  repugnant  to  the  evangelical  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith  as  it  is  to  the  precepts  of  the 
gospel  and  the  practice  of  the  apostles.  The  lea- 
thern scholasticism  of  the  seventeenth  century,  it 
is  true,  knew  how  to  justify  all  that;  but  of  this 
justification,  neither  Scripture  rightly  interpreted, 
nor  reason  speaking  its  own  language,  can  take 
cognizance. 

"  The  Protestant  Church  in  Germany  fell,  be- 
sides, into  another  contradiction ;  inasmuch  as  she 
defended  and  admitted  the  validity  of  Confirmation, 
as  being  the  voluntary  act  of  the  individual,  and 
yet  supported,  with  all  her  power,  the  interference 
of  the  State ;  by  whose  regulations  no  person  can 


2*2  bunsen's  view  of  baptism, 

bo  admitted  into  any  trade  or  service,  unless  he 
can  produce  a  certificate  of  Confirmation. 

"The  Reformed  Church,  which  had  no  scruple  in 
swallowing  the  camel  of  pedobaptism,  found  no 
place  in  its  theological  conscience  for  Confirmation, 
because  it  was  not  prescribed  in  Scripture — was  a 
human  invention.  In  the  course  of  two  centuries, 
wherever  the  two  evangelical  confessions  [the  Luthe- 
ran and  the  Reformed,]  co-exist,  custom  has  corrected 
that  untenable  theological  one-sidedness,  by  the  in- 
troduction of  the  Lutheran  confirmation ;  and  this 
has  been  one  of  the  many  inward  preparations  to 
the  union  of  the  two  confessions. 

".The  English  Church,  in  her  Articles,  adopts 
the  general  evangelical  doctrine  of  baptism  in  such 
a  way  as  to  place  human  faith  by  the  side  of  Di- 
vine grace. — (Art.  27,  compared  with  Art.  33.*) 
She  receives,  moreover,  the  scholastic  doctrine  which 
limits  the  efficacy  of  baptism  to  original  sin,  and 
excludes  from  it  all  deadly  sins  committed  after 
baptism,  as  well  as  the  fanatical  view  that  persons 
once  baptized  can  sin  no  more. — (Art.  16.)  But 
in  her  liturgy,  exclusively  and  rigorously  prescribed 
since  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  she  cer- 
tainly uses  expressions  which  appear  better  suited 

*  And  yet,  it  might  have  been  stated,  the  27th  Article  as- 
serts that  "  The  baptism  of  young  children  is  in  any  wise  to 
be  retained." 


ANCIENT    AND    MODERN.  23 

» 

to  the  Romish  than  the  evangelical  doctrines,  and 
which  have  consequently  become  a  snare  to  many 
consciences,  and  a  cause  of  constantly  continuing 
separation  from  the  church.  Lastly,  Confirmation 
has  been  no  farther  advanced,  either  doctrinally  or 
practically,  beyond  the  point  at  which  it  was  left  at 
the  time  of  the  separation  from  the  Church  of 
Rome.  The  English  church,  therefore,  is  not  only 
in  this  particular  essentially  unreformed,  but  con- 
siderably behind  the  French,  and  especially  behind 
the  Roman  Catholic  church  in  Germany. 

"  The  Baptists  have  restored  adult  baptism.  But 
the  restoration  of  an  old  form  has  grown  into  a 
formality.  The  Baptists  find  it  difficult  to  under- 
stand that  the  idea  of  the  German  Protestant  act 
of  baptism,  which  concluded  with  the  vow  and 
benediction,  corresponds  exactly  with  the  idea  of 
the  gospel  commandment,  the  letter  of  which  they 
push  to  such  an  extent ;  and,  under  the  yoke  of  an 
utterly  one-sided  rigid  Calvinism,  they  are  inclined 
to  attach  to  their  own  form  a  superstitious  power, 
by  which  the  efficacy  of  a  continually  renewed 
faith  is  thrown  into  the  background." 


Here  candor  and  justice  seem  to  require  some 
remark.  If  what  the  Baptists  have  restored — the 
baptism  of  penitent  believers,  the  ancient,  the 
scriptural  manner  of  admitting  into  the  church — 


24  bunsen's  view  of  baptism, 

has  in  any  case  "  grown  into  a  formality/'  the  fact 
is  much  to  be  deplored.  The  remedy,  however,  is 
to  be  found,  not  in  discarding  the  true  and  scriptu- 
ral manner,  but  in  cherishing  the  spirit  that  it  was 
intended  to  promote.  If  we  have  forgotten  the  emo- 
tions which  swelled  our  bosoms,  and  the  resolutions 
and  promises  which,  before  God  and  the  world,  we 
made  when  we  were  "  buried  with  Christ  in  bap- 
tism i"  if  we  have  given  any  occasion  for  the  cast- 
ing of  reproach  or  scorn  upon  an  ordinance  of  the 
blessed  Saviour,  may  we  repent,  and  do  the  first 
works ! 

That  the  idea  of  the  German  Protestant  act  of 
baptism — an  act  which,  according  to  the  theory 
proposed,  commences  in  the  sprinkling  of  the  un- 
conscious infant,  and  is  completed  in  his  regular 
confirmation,  fourteen  or  eighteen  years  afterwards, 
11  corresponds  exactly  with  the  idea  of  the  gospel 
commandment,"  we  do,  indeed,  find  it  difficult  to 
understand. 

In  regard  to  the  sweeping  censure  conveyed  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  closing  sentence,  it  is,  pro- 
bably, sufficient  to  say  that  the  respected  author 
must  either  have  written  these  lines  inconsiderately, 
or  he  must  have  been  misinformed.  Surely,  one 
would  think,  he  cannot  have  had  the  means  of 
forming  a  correct  estimate  of  the  religious  senti- 


ANCIENT    AND    MODERN.  25 

ments  of  those  who  should  be  considered  as  repre- 
senting the  distinctive  principles  of  the  Baptists. 

At  all  events,  it  is  quite  clear  from  this  strong 
language  of  the  Chevalier,  that  what  he  has  writ- 
ten favorably  to  our  views  has  not  been  prompted 
by  any  bias  in  our  favor.  Whatever  may  be 
thought  of  us,  let  principles  be  judged  according 
to  their  own  merits.  Perhaps  the  unfavorable  im- 
pression may  yet  be  removed.  Every  Baptist 
may  contribute  somewhat  to  so  desirable  a  result, 
by  living  a  truly  Christian  life,  looking,  not  to  a 
frail  human  master,  but — as  on  the  memorable  day 
of  our  baptism — to  Jesus  the  author  and  finisher 
of  our  faith.  It  is  well,  if  we  can,  to  remove  every 
stumbling-block  out  of  the  way;  and  whether  we 
continue  to  be  reproached  or  not,  it  is  well  to  se- 
cure the  approbation  of  Him  who  died  for  us  and 
rose  again,  and  is  to  be  our  final  Judge. 


APPENDIX. 


NEED  OF  A  NEW  REFORMATION* 

BY   CHEVALIER   BUNSEN. 

(Taken  from  the  Introduction  to  the  Third  volume  of  his  work  on 
Hippolytus  ;  in  the  second  edition,  the  second  volume.) 

No  historical  Church  of  the  present  day  can  be 
compared  with  that  apostolic  age,  without  manifold 
misconceptions  of  later  times  becoming  lamentably- 
apparent,  in  that  light  of  truth  and  of  substantial 
reality.  Between  us  and  those  fathers,  empty 
phantoms  have  started  up,  darkening  that  primitive 
age;  and,  wherever  these  dark  phantoms  are  re- 
ceived as  lights,  they  will  obscure  the  light  of  primi- 
tive antiquity,  and  falsify  the  life  of  our  own  time. 
A  severe  trial,  therefore,  awaits  any  one  who  looks 
primitive  Christianity  in  the  face. 

And  yet,  what  clear-headed  and  honest  inquirer, 

*  However  we  may  differ  from  the  distinguished  Author  as 
to  the  extent  of  the  changes  required,  none  can  fail  to  sym- 
pathize in  the  following  earnest  and  decided  views,  which  we 
nave  thought  worthy  of  being  added  here.  J.  N.  B. 

(26) 


NEED   OF   A   NEW   REFORMATION.  27 

to  whom  Christianity  is  a  life,  and  its  renovation 
the  condition  on  which  all  the  hopes  for  the  future 
of  the  European  world  are  based,  has  not  felt,  in 
our  trying  and  almost  Apocalyptic  times,  the  want 
of  entering  into  communion  of  life  with  the  spirit 
of  primitive  Christianity  ? 

lou  take  your  stand  upon  the  Church;  here 
is  its  commencement.  You  take  your  stand  upon 
the  Bible;  here  is  its  first  Apostolical  realiza- 
tion. What  is  required  of  you  is,  not  to  sub- 
stitute scholarship  and  research  for  simple  Chris- 
tain  faith,  much  less  to  set  up  the  idol  of 
philosophy  in  the  shrine  of  religion.  You  have 
no  longer  to  deal  with  the  abstract  philosophy 
and  barren  research  of  the  eighteenth  century ;  you 
live  in  the  nineteenth,  one  of  historical  philosophy 
and  of  reconstruction.  The  work  to  which  we  are 
called,  is,  unweariedly  and  humbly  to  sweep  the 
porch  of  the  Temple ;  to  clear  the  floor ;  not  to  riot 
as  destructives  in  the  darkened  chambers,  but  to 
bestir  ourselves  to  restore,  and  to  allow  the  light  ot 
Heaven  to  penetrate  within  them.  It  is  the  rub- 
bish of  false  learning  and  conventional  scholasticism 
which  separates  us  from  the  Sanctuary,  and  it  is 
high  time  to  sweep  it  away,  as  the  signs  of  the  lat- 
ter days  have  appeared,  in  which  infidel  superstition 
intends  to  usurp  the  altar,  and  willful  falsehood  the 
throne  of  truth. 


28  APPENDIX. 

Assuming  now  the  result  of  such  a  conscientious 
examination  of  facts  and  documents  to  be  what  I 
have  arrived  at,  in  these  volumes,  (and  I  am  firmly 
convinced  no  thinker  and  investigator  can  arrive, 
upon  the  whole,  at  a  very  different  conclusion,)  the 
question  arises :  "What  is  to  be  done  ?  Shall  we  build 
ourselves  a  new  house  out  of  some  blocks  of  the 
Apostolic  age,  upon  the  ruins  of  the  one  in  which 
we  were  born  and  live  ?*  Or  shall  we,  in  the  despair 
of  unbelief,  arid  in  the  weakness  of  materialism, 
(which  is  real  ungodliness,)  refuse  all  research  and 
all  investigation  into  our  church  life  and  common 
constitution,  in  whatever  shape;  and,  above  all, 
shall  we  refuse  to  lay  a  finger  on  the  plague  spots, 
because  we  might  make  the  evil  worse  ?  Is  this  not 
saying,  in  other  words,  that  Christianity  is  not  true  ? 
Or,  since  the  ecclesiastical  foundations  are  every 
where  gone  or  giving  way,  shall  we  try  to  strengthen 
them  with  outward  forms ;  or,  if  need  be,  support 
them  by  force,  because  the  forms  of  religion  are  so 
closely  connected  with  State  arrangements  and  out- 
ward customs,  and  even,  perhaps,  with  influence  and 
power,  with  interest  and  wealth  ?  Or  shall  we  rake 
up  all  the  arts  of  sophistry  and  false  learning, 
straining  at  gnats  and  swallowing  camels,  in  order 

*It  is  to  be  remembered  tbat  the  esteemed  Author  is  a 
member  of  a  National  Church.  J.  N.  B. 


NEED    OF    A    NEW    REFORM ATION.  29 

to  persuade  people  that  all  is  right,  although  the 
form  satisfies  the  conscience  no  longer,  and  leaves 
the  mind  empty  ? 

Is  it  not  time  in  truth  to  withdraw  the  veil  from 
our  misery  ?  to  point  to  the  clouds  which  rise  from 
all  quarters,  to  the  noxious  vapors  which  have  al- 
ready well  nigh  suffocated  us  ?  to  tear  oflp  the  mask 
of  hypocrisy,  and  destroy  that  sham  which  is  under- 
mining all  real  ground  beneath  our  feet  ?  to  point 
out  tbe  dangers  which  surround,  nay,  threaten  al- 
ready to  engulph  us  ? 

Is  the  state  of  things  satisfactory  in  a  Christian 
sense,  where  so  much  that  is  unchristian  predomi- 
nates, and  where  Christianity  has  scarcely  begun 
here  and  there,  to  penetrate  the  surface  of  common 
life  ?  Shall  we  be  satisfied  with  the  increased  out- 
ward respect  paid  to  Christianity  and  the  Church  ? 
Shall  we  take  it  as  a  sign  of  renewed  life,  that  the 
names  of  God  and  Christ  have  become  the  fashion, 
and  are  used  as  a  party  badge? 

Can  a  society  be  said  to  be  in  a  healthy  condition 
in  which  material  and  selfish  interests  in  individuals, 
as  well  as  in  the  masses,  gain  every  day,"  more  and 
more,  the  upper  hand  ?  in  which  so  many  thinking 
and  educated  men  are  attached  to  Christianity  only 
by  outward  forms,  maintained  either  by  despotic 
power,  or,  by  a  not  less  despotic,  half  superstitious, 


30  APPENDIX. 

half  hypocritical  custom  ?*  When  so  many  church es 
are  empty  and  satisfy  but  few,  or  display  more  and 
more  outward  ceremonials,  and  vicarious  rites? 
When  a  godless  schism  has  sprung  up  between 
spirit  and  form,  or  has  even  been  preached  up  as  a 
means  of  rescue  ?  When  gross  ignorance,  or  con- 
fused knowledge,  cold  indifference,  or  the  fanaticism 
of  superstition  prevails,  as  to  the  understanding  of 
Holy  Scripture,  as  to  the  history,  nay,  the  funda- 
mental ideas  of  Christianity  ?  When  force  invokes 
religion  in  order  to  command,  and  demagogues  ap- 
peal to  the  religious  element  in  order  to  destroy  ? 
When,  after  all  their  severe  chastisements  and 
bloody  lessons,  most  statesmen  base  their  wisdom 
only  on  the  contempt  of  mankind ;  and  when  the 
prophets  of  the  people  preach  a  liberty,  the  basis  of 

*"  The  first  result  of  the  protectorate  of  the  Christian  empe- 
rors was,  that  in  their  codes  they  converted  church  ordinances 
(that  about  baptism,  for  instance,)  into  statute  laws.  Thus 
Justinian,  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century,  ordered  new- 
born infants  to  be  baptized,  under  a  penalty  for  neglecting  it; 
a  law  which  still  passes  for  a  Christian  principle  in  the  code  of 
many  a  Christian  State.  Evangelical  and  Apostolical  free- 
dom thus  received  its  death  blow  from  the  same  police  crutch 
which  was  given  it  for  support.  It  has  remained  in  the  samo 
crippled  state  to  this  day,  in  the  East." — Bunsen's  Hippolytua, 
vol.  iii.  p.  249. 

Is  not  here  the  secret  of  much  of  that  persecution  which 
the  Baptists,  to  this  hour,  suffer  on  the  Continent  of  Europe, 
even  from  Protestant  States? J.  N.  B.  . 


NEED    OF    A    NEW    REFORMATION.  31 

which  is  selfishness,  the  object  libertinism,  and  the 
wages  are  vice  ?  And  this  is  an  age,  the  events  of 
which  show  more  and  more  fatal  symptoms,  and  in 
which  a  cry  of  ardent  longing  pervades  the  people, 
re-echoed  by  a  thousand  voices  ? 

I  have  neither  written  for  my  own  personal  grati- 
fication, nor  for  any  party,  either  here  or  in  Ger- 
many, nor  for  any  fashion  of  the  day.  I  have 
meditated  and  inquired  from  an  earnest  desire  to 
discover  truth,  and  to  meet  the  wants  of  a  confused 
and  eventful  age,  which  yearns  after  light  and 
information ;  and  I  have  said  nothing  which  I 
have  not  thoroughly  examined  and  tested  for 
at  least  twenty-five  years.  Thus,  while  I  shall 
not  be  scared  by  any  dictatorial  assertions, 
neither  will  any  correction  come  unwelcome  to 
be.  Of  the  truth  of  the  fundamental  views 
which  I  have  expressed,  and  of  the  soundness  of 
their  philosophical  and  historical  ground  work,  I 
have  as  little  doubt  as  I  have  of  my  own  ex- 
istence. 

This  applies,  in  particular,  to  my  conviction  that 
the  question  at  this  moment  is,  not  how  to  carry  out, 

but  how  to  prepare  A  SECOND  GRAND  RECONSTRUC- 
TIVE Reformation.  The  porch  of  the  Temple 
must  first  be  more  thoroughly  cleansed  than  it  was 
in  the  sixteenth,  and  above  all,  restored  more  hon- 
estly than  it  was  in  the  seventeenth  century;  and, 


82  Al'PENDIX. 

lastly,  the  work  must  be  handled  more  practically 
than  it  has  yet  been  done  by  the  critical  German 
school  of  this  age.* 

•  In  the  mean  time,  let  every  one  cleanse  his  own 
heart  and  house  as  well  as  he  can.  When  the  feel- 
ing of  the  misery  which  is  coming,  and  a  real  faith 
in  the  saving  truth  which  is  in  Christ,  shall  have 
thoroughly  penetrated  the  nations,  then  will  the 
Spirit  of  G-od  assuredly  come  upon  them  with  might, 
either  for  the  reformation  or  the  annihilation  of  the 
existing  Churches.  Whether  this  crisis  will  end  in 
in  the  renewal  or  the  destruction  of  the  present  na- 
tions and  states,  will  depend  upon  the  position  they 
take  in  face  of  the  demands  of  the  Gospel,  and  the 
wants  of  the  time.  For  every  nation  and  age  has 
its  time  and  its  day  of  visitation,  after  which  its 
fate  is  sealed. 

This    great  movement,  however    will  assuredly 

*  The  following  concession  of  our  Author  on  this  point, 
suggests  a  fact  too  important  to  be  overlooked  by  us  or 
others.J.  N.  B. 

"  But  how  little  the  Nationa.  Churches  of  the  seventeenth 
century  can  make  head  against  the  onsets  of  the  Baptists,  in 
countries  where  a  great  and  free  religious  movement  exists,  is 
evinced  by  the  fact,  that,  among  serious  Christians  of  the  En- 
glish race  in  the  United  States,  the  Baptist  or  Congregational 
preachers  are  on  the  increase  more  than  any  other  sect,  so 
that  they  form  already  the  most  numerous  and  most  progres- 
sive community." — Bunnell's  Hijypolytns,  vol.  iii.  p.  209. 


NEED    OF   A    NEW    REFORMATION.  33 

not  lead  to  the  destruction  of  Christianity,  but  to 
its  establishment  on  a  firmer  basis ;  not  to  the  low- 
ering of  the  person  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  but  to  his 
greater  glorification ;  and  God's  kingdom  of  Truth 
and  Liberty  on  earth,  will  advance  as  triumphantly 
over  the  perishing  as  over  the  renovated  kingdoms 
and  states  of  the  present  world. 

My  belief  in  this  future  rests  upon  the  following 
convictions,  which  have  been  considerably  strength- 
ened by,  and  seem  to  me  naturally  to  flow  from 
the  criticism  of  the  work  of  Hippolytus  and  of  his 
Age  ;  and  which  I  consider  as  the  final  result  of  the 
comparison  between  Ancient  and  Modern  Christian- 
ity and  divinity,  founded  upon  that  criticism. 

Christianity  is  true,  because  free;  and  it  is  free 
and  freeing,  because  true  Christianity  is  philosophi- 
cally and  historically  true ;  and  it  could  not  be 
true,  except  by  being  so  both  by  its  thought 
and  by  its  history.  It  is  true,  by  the  inex- 
haustible truth  of  the  eternal  thought  which  it 
manifests,  and  by  the  equally  inexhaustible  truth 
of  the  divine  individuality  upon  which  it  rests,  Jesus 
of  Nazareth.  It  is  true,  by  the  genuineness  and 
historical  truth  of  the  apostolic  and  evangelic  ac- 
counts which  we  possess  of  this  exalted  individuality, 
and  by  the  harmony  of  these  records  with  the  living 
tradition  which  accompanies  it.  This  tradition  is 
the  Church,  and  the  Church  is  Christianized  human- 


34  APPENDIX. 

ity ;  Christianized  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ  and  by  the 
Scriptures  which  that  Spirit  produced. 

The  great  proof  of  the  divine  nature  and  truth 
of  Christianity,  is  its  power  of  regenerating  the 
world. 

This  regenerating  power  has  shown  itself  twice 
in  an  unparalleled  world-renovating  change,  pro- 
duced by  the  spirit  of  Christianity:  in  the  moral 
and  intellectual  revival  of  the  ancient  world,  after 
the  downfall  of  the  universal  empire  of  Rome  in  the 
fifth  Christian  century ;  and  by  the  moral,  intellec- 
tual and  political  revival  of  the  modern  world  after 
the  downfall  of  the  omnipotence  of  papal  Rome  in 
the  sixteenth. 

Whatever  there  exists  of  great,  of  hopeful,  of  re- 
deeming, in  the  present  state  of  the  human  race,  is 
the  effect  of  Christ  and  Christianity.  This  is  the 
true,  progressive,  and  comforting  fulfillment  of  all 
the  prophecies  of  Christ  himself,  and  of  his  Apostles, 
and  of  all  those  prophetic  words  and  deeds  of  the 
ancient  world,  (principally,  not  exclusively,  of  the 
Jewish,)  which  speak  of  a  reign  of  truth  and  justice 
upon  this  earth. 

The  nations  of  ChrLt end jta-,  whether  of  the 
Greek  and  Roman,  or  of  the  National,  that  is  to 
say,  Protestant  communions,  may  live,  and  ought  to 
live,  by  the  side  of  each  other  in  charity  and  peace ; 
but  they  can  only  do  so  by  virtue  of  the  great  prin- 


NEED    OF    A    NEW   REFORMATION.  35 

ciple  of  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  of  the  free  political  constitutions  it  has  produced 
and  is  producing.  For  that  great  principle  is  the 
moral  self-responsibility  of  each  individual,  founded 
upon  personal  faith  in  Christ  and  in  his  Spirit,  re- 
flected, as  both  are,  by  the  conscience' of  the  human 
breast,  and  by  the  reason  of  the  human  mind.  This 
faith  produces,  necessarily,  self-responsibility;  self- 
responsibility  produces,  and  virtually  is,  self-govern- 
ment; self-government  renders  possible,  and  works 
political  liberty  j  and  this  political  liberty  is  the  only 
safeguard,  as  much  as  it  is  itself  the  fruit  of  religi- 
ous liberty.  Both  liberties  together,  render  mate- 
rial toleration,  possible  without  indifference,  and 
prepare  the  age  in  which  divine  charity  is  to  rule 
paramount  over  the  world. 

Whoever  idolizes  the  letter  of  Byzantine  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  system  of  Medieval  divinity,  breaks 
with  the  church  of  the  Apostles;  he  forfeits  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  and  falls  out  of  the  very  commu- 
nion with  the  ancient  believers  which  he  pretends 
to  cherish.  Whoever  will  attempt,  whether  out  of 
fanaticism,  or,  (which  is  more  likely  to  be  the 
case,  and  more  condemnable,)  for  political  ends,  to 
replace  those  systems  upon  the  throne  of  the  world, 
breaks  with  the  present  and  with  the  future.  And 
whoever  seeks  for  the  conservative  element  in  the 
restoration  of  sacerdotal  dominion   over   the  con- 


36  APPENDIX. 

science,  and  of  priest-rule  over  national  government, 
prepares  not  only  great  political  revolutions,  but 
also  the  entire  downfall  of  the  hierarchy  itself. 
Those  who  have  sown  superstition  have  reaped,  and 
are  reaping,  anarchy.  But  those  who  will  do  so 
now,  or  in  any  time  to  come,  will  bring  upon  them- 
selves, and  as  far  as  in  them  lies,  upon  the  world, 
a  much  greater  convulsion  and  destruction  than 
ever  were  witnessed  since  the  downfall  of  the  Roman 
empire. 


THE   END 


REASONS 


FOR 


BECOMING  A  BAPTIST: 


TOGETHER  WITH 


51  fmmW  Xittu  tn  jits  Info  (Cljnrge. 


BY  REV.  S.  REMINGTON,  A.  M., 

LATE  PASTOR 
OF    ST.  PAUL'S    METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUECH,   WWELL,   MA8*. 


I  speak  as  unto  -wise  man;  judge  ye  -wliat  1  ear." 


|M*tg B 


PHILADELPHIA: 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

530  ARCH  STREET. 


Lowell,  March  2d,  1846. 
Dear  Brother — Believing  that  the  reasons  assigned 
a,  for  becoming  a  Baptist  are  eminently  scrip- 
tural, and  that  their  general  circulation  would  pro- 
mote the  cause  of  truth,  we,  your  brethren  in  the 
ministry,  respectfully  invite  you  to  commit  your 
interesting  work  to  the  press. 

Affectionately  yours,  in  the  service  of  Christ, 

Lemuel  Porter, 
Ira  Person, 
Daniel  C.  Eddy, 
D.  Burroughs, 
J.  Ballard. 
Rev.  S.  Remington. 


Lowell,  March  Zd,  1846. 
Rev.  and  Dear  Brethren — As  I  desire  to  promote 
the  cause  of  truth,  and. as  you  think  the  publication 
of  my  "  Reasons  for  becoming  a  Baptist"  may  con- 
tribute to  it,  I  therefore  accede  to  your  requ 

ig  that  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  may 
give  it  his  sanction. 

With  great  respect,  Rev.  brethren,  I  am  happy  to 
subscribe  myself  your  fellow-laborer  in  the  best  of 
causes. 

S.  Remington. 
Rev.  Lemuel  Porter,  &c. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S51,  ry  the 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  is 
and  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


REASONS 

FOR 

BECOMING  A  BAPTIST. 


"  Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

"  Teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you :  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alwav.  even  unto' 
the  end  of  the  world."— Matt.  28 :  19,  20. 

The  word  "  therefore"  refers  to  the  pre- 
ceding text,  in  which  Jesus  Christ  asserts 
his  authority  to  rule  and  regulate  his 
church  ;  to  appoint  his  ministers,  and  to 
give  them  their  appropriate  commission,  so 
that  all  their  doings  ma}Tbe  done  in  his  name 
and  by  his  authority.  Hence  he  says — 
"  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven 
and  in  earth."     "  Go  ye  therefore" — 

You  will  observe  the  order  of  their  com- 
mission— To  teach,  baptize,  and  then  build 
up  the  church  on  her  most  holy  faith — and 
his  promise  is  to  be  with  all  such  to  the 
end  of  the  world. 

They  are,  then,  first  to  leach  all  nations 
■sdiat  they  must  do  to  be  saved,  and  bap- 


4  REASONS    FOR 

tize  all  that  believe.  See  Mark  16  :  15, 
16,  "  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized 
shall  be  saved." 

Then  secondly,  having  introduced  them 
into  the  church  of  God  by  the  rite  of  bap- 
tism, the  command  is — "  Teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you."  By  this  means  they  are  to 
become  established  Christians,  thoroughly 
furnished  unto  every  good  work. 

The  main  point  which  invites  our  atten- 
tion upon  this  occasion,  is  Baptism. 

What  is  the  mode,  and  who  are  the  pro- 
per subjects  of  Christian  baptism  ?  are 
questions  upon  which  the  Christian  world 
have  been,  and  still  are,  divided. 

The  Baptists  tell  us  that  believers  are  the 
only,  subjects,  and  immersion  the  only  true 
mode  of  administering  the  ordinance,  while 
Pedo-baptists  contend  that  infants  ought 
to  be  baptized,  and  that  sprinkling,  pour- 
ing, or  immersion,  are  equally  valid. 

There  are  points,  however,  upon  which 
both  parties  generally  agree, — that  baptism 
is  a  gospel  ordinance  ;  that  it  is  the  door  of 
admission  into  the  visible  church,  and  ought 
always  to  precede  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  supper  ;  and  tha-t  it  should  be  ad- 
ministered to  the  same  subject  but  once. 

This  common  ground  implies  its  impor- 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST  5 

tance  to  both  parties.  Though  it  is  an  ex- 
ternal rite,  and  not  absolutely  necessary 
to  salvation,  yet  being  an  institution  of  the 
gospel,  and  the  visible  line  of  separation 
i  the  world  and  Christ's  kingdom, 
it  is  of  great  importance  that  we  should 
rye  it  agreeably  to  its  original  design 
and  intent. 

It  is  a  positive  law,  and  hence  should 
be  observed  according  to  its  letter.  There 
is  no  mending,  altering,  or  chano-in^  the 
laws  and  institutions  of  Christ  allowed  to 
any  of  his  followers,  however  devout  and 
holy  they  may  be.  He  is  our  Lord,  as 
well  as  Saviour,  and  we  must  hear  and 
obey  him. 

This  discourse  will  contain  a  brief  narra- 
tion of  the  different  steps  which  I  took  in 
the  investigation  of  this  subject,  and  the 
conclusions  to  which  I  arrived. 

To  begin.  The  first  book  which  I  open- 
ed was  the  New  Testament.  In  this  book, 
the  word  baptize  often  occurs, — a  Greek 
word  with  an  English  termination.  To 
understand  its  meaning  seemed  to  be  the 
first  step  for  me  to  take.  I  therefore  had 
recourse  to  the  Greek  Testament  which 
contains  the  original  language  in  which  i*- 
was  written.  Here  I  found  the  word  bap- 
tizo  with  its  noun  baptisma,  and  participle 
1* 


6  REAS3XS    FOR 

baptlzontes  ;  the  verb,  called  by  our  trans- 
lators "  baptize,"  the  noun  "  baptism," 
and  the  participle  "  baptizing." 

As  words  are  the  signs  of  our  ideas,  the 
great  point  with  me  was,  to  obtain  the 
true  translation  of  the  word  "  baptizo  ;" 
in  order  to  which,  I  examined  every  pas- 
sage in  the  New  Testament  where  the 
word  is  used,  and  found  in  every  place 
where  baptism  was  spoken  of,  this  was 
the  word  used  by  the  inspired  penman. 

My  next  business  was  to  obtain  the 
meaning  of  the  word  baptizo,  as  translated 
by  Greek  lexicographers.  I  obtained  the 
testimony  of  no  less  than  twenty-three,  all 
of  whom  agree  that  its  primary  meaning  is 
"to  immerse,  plunge,  dip,  overwhelm," — 
and  a  few  of  them  give  as  a  remote  mean- 
ing, "  to  wash,  lave,  or  tinge  ;"  this,  how- 
ever, as  a  consequence,  or  by  implication, 
because  a  thing  washed,  whatever  may  be 
its  process,  must  be  as  wet  as  if  immersed. 
Hence,  Alstedius  says,  "  it  means  not  to 
wash,  except  by  consequence." 

So  overwhelming  is  this  testimony,  that 
many  learned  Pedo-baptists,  I  found,  were 
constrained  to  admit  it — among  whom  is 
Professor  Stuart  of  Andover.  He  says 
that  "  the  words  bapto  and  baptizo  mean 
to  dip,  plunge,  or  immerse  into  any  thing 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  7 

liquid,"  and  that  "  all  lexicographers  and 
critics  of  any  note  are  agreed  in  this."  Ac- 
cordingly, I  sought  out  the  opinions  of  a 

number  of  distinguished  divines,  who  were 
acquainted  with  the  best  Greek  authorities, 
including  classic  literature,  and  to  my 
surprise,  I  found  an  host  of  witnesses  who 
were  Pedo-baptists,  and  yet,  in  spite  of 
their  creed,  conceded  \he  point. 

Your  attention  is  invited  to  the  testimo- 
nies of  a  few  ofMihese  witnesses. 

Campbell  says,  "  The  word  baptism,  both 
in  sacred  authors  and  in  classical,  signifies 
to  dip,  to  plunge,  to  immerse.  Had  bap- 
tizo  been  employed  in  the  sense  of  raino, 
to  sprinkle,  (which,  as  far  as  I  know,  it 
never  is,  in  any  use,  sacred  or  classical,) 
the  expression  would  doubtless  have  been, 
"  I  indeed  baptize  water  upon  you." 

Beza.  "  Neither  does  the  word  baptizo 
signify  to  wash,  unless  consequently,  for 
it  properly  signifies  to  plunge  into,  for  the 
sake  of  tinging  or  dyin^." 

John  Calvin  says,  "  The  very  word  bap- 
tize, however,  signifies  to  immerse,  and  it 
is  certain  that  immersion  wras  the  practice 
of  the  ancient  church." 

Luther.  "  The  term  baptizo  is  Greek, 
and  may  J^e  rendered  dipping,  as  when 
we   dip  any  thing  in  water,  so  that  it  is 


S  REASONS    FOR 

covered  all  over.  And  although  the  cus- 
tom be  now  abolished  among  many,  (for 
they  do  not  dip  their  children,  but  only 
pour  on  them  a  little  water,)  yet  they  ought 
to  be  wholly  immersed,  and  immediately 
taken  out ;  the  etymology  of  the  word 
seems  to  require  it." 

Melancthon.     "  Baptism  is  an  entire  ac 
tion,  to  wit,  a  dipping  and  the  pronounc- 
ing these  words,  I  baptize  thee,  &c." 

1  could  quote  more  than  a  dozen  addi- 
tional, whose  testimonies  are  equally  ex- 
plicit, but  for  the  want  of  time,  I  will  close 
this  paragraph  by  giving  you  Dr.  Width/ s. 
He  says,  "  Baptism  by  immersion,  is  suit- 
able both  to  the  institution  of  our  Lord 
and  his  apostles  ;  and  was  by  them  or- 
dained to  represent  our  burial  with  Christ, 
and  so  our  dving  unto  sin,  and  our  con- 
formity  to  his  resurrection  by  newness  of 
life." 

The  next  thing  that  attracted  my  atten- 
tion  was,  the  practice  of  the  Greek  church. 
This  church  is  of  ancient  date,  and  com 
prises  at  this  day  a  large  portion  of  the 
Christian  world  ;  portions  cf  which  are  in 
the  coldest  latitudes  in  the  Russian  Empire. 
And  yet  immersion  is  their  only  mode,  and 
has  always  been  so  from  the  ^beginning. 
Now,  it  will  be  recollected  that  the  Greek 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST  9 

is  tbfcir  mother  language,  and  it  is  to  be 

supposed  that  they  understand  the  popular 
meaning  of  the  word  baptizo,  and  that 
their  practical  application  of  that  term  to 
immersion,  is  an  imperishable  monument 
to  its  truth. 

In  view  of  the  se  facts  I  inquired,  Whence 
came  the  practice  of  sprinkling  ?  The 
Greek  lexicographers  answer,  "  Not  from 
us."  The  Oriental  church  answers,  "  Not 
from  us,"  The  Roman  Catholic  church 
answers  not  from  the  primary  meaning  of 
the  word,  nor  from  the  primitive  practice, 
which  was  immersion  ;  but  by  authority 
committed  to  her  she  changed  it.  I  could 
but  wonder  at  the  inconsistency  of  the 
Reformed  churches,  and  their  learned 
men,  who,  with  the  writings  of  the  Re- 
formers in  their  hands,  declare,  in  the 
language  of  Calvin,  that "  the  word  baptize 
means  to  immerse,  and  it  is  certain  that 
immersion  was  the  practice  of  the  primi- 
tive church,"  and  yet  plead  for  the  change 
on  the  ground  of  expediency  and  con- 
venience. 

My  only  alternative,  therefore,  was 
either  to  admit  the  infallibility  of  the  Papal 
church,  and  her  right  to  change  or  alter 
.the  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  or  that  im- 
mersion was  the  primitive  and  only  scrip- 


10  REASONS    FOR 

tural  baptism.  Of  course,  I  must  shoose 
the  latter. 

By  this  time  I  consider  the  word  fairly 
translated.  With  this  translation  I  began 
to  read  the  Scriptures.  "  In  those  days 
came  John  the  Immerser — and  were  all 
immersed  of  him  in  the  river  Jordan. 
Then  cometh  Jesus  from  Galilee  to  Jordan 
unto  John,  to  be  immersed  of  him.  After 
these  things  came  Jesus  and  his  disciples 
into  the  land  of  Judea,and  there  he  tarried 
with  them  and  immersed.  Jesus  made 
and  immersed  more  disciples  than  John, 
though  Jesus  himself  immersed  not,  but 
his  disciples.  He  that  belie veth  and  is 
immersed  shall  be  saved.  Go  ye, — teach 
all  nations,  immersing  them.  Then  Peter 
said,  repent  and  be  immersed  every  one 
Of  you.  Then  they  that  gladly  received 
the  word  were  immersed."     And  so  on. 

I  was  led  to  ask  myself,  What,  if  this 
word  had  been  properly  rendered  by  the 
translators  of  our  English  version  of  the 
bible,  would  have  become  of  sprinkling  ? 
— who  of  us  would  have  practised  it  ? 
As  it  is,  nearly  half  of  the  Christian  world 
are  Baptists. 

My  next  inquiry  was,  Do  the  scripture 
examples  set  forth  immersion  as  essential 
to  the  ordinance  ?     Have  we  any  unequi- 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  11 

vocal  examples  of  immersion,  and  have 
we  any  equally  so  of  sprinkling,  either 
direct  or  indirect — positive  or  inferential "? 

I  found  several  undoubted  examples  oi 
immersion  recorded  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. First,  John  the  Baptist  baptized 
bv  immersion.  Matt.  3:  12.  Luke -3  :  3. 
Acts  19  :  4.  Mark  1  :  5.  John  3  :  23, 
and  Luke  7  :  29,  30.  In  these  passages 
we  are  taught,  1.  That  John  prepared 
the  people  for  baptism  by  preaching.  2. 
That  he  required  repentance  and  faith  as 
the  pre-requisites  for  receiving  the  ordi- 
nance. 3.  For  the  want  of  this  the  Law- 
yers and  Pharisees  were  not  baptized.  4. 
That  this  baptism  was  immersion.  This 
is  the  common  sense  view  of  the  subject. 
They  were  baptized  in  the  river  Jordan. 
The  reason  assigned  for  his  baptizing  at 
JEnon  near  to  Salim  was,  because  there 
was  much  water  there  ;  hence  they  came 
and  were  baptized.  And  finally,  the 
original  has  but  one  name  for  the  ordi- 
nance, and  that  is,  as  we  have  seen,  im- 
mersion. "  They  came  and  were  im- 
mersed." 

Christ's  baptism  furnishes  the  second 
example  of  immersion.  Mark  1  :  9.  Matt. 
3  :  16.  Mark  1  :  10.  Jesus  was  bap- 
tized, not  with  the  river  Jordan,  but  in  it ; 


12  REASONS    FOR 

and  hence  when  he  was  baptized,  went 
straightway  out  of  the  water. 

Had  the  baptism  of  John  and  of  Christ 
any  thing  to  do  with  Christian  baptism  ? 
was  the  next  question  which  I  was  led  to 
examine. 

John's  baptism  was  either  under  the 
law  or  the  gospel  dispensation.  If  under 
the  former,  we  should  expect  that  the  law 
required  it.  But  where  can  such  a  re- 
quirement be  found  in  the  law  ?  The 
baptism  of  John  was  not  from  the  law, 
but  more  recently  from  heaven.  Matt.  21 : 
25.  Luke. 16:  16,  informs  us  that  "the 
law  and  the  prophets  were  until  John  ; 
since  that  time  the  kingdom  of  God  is 
preached  and  every  man  presseth  into  it." 
By  "  the  kingdom  of  God,"  we  understand 
the  Gospel  dispensation,  which,  from  the 
days  of  John  the  Baptist,  was  preached. 
This  is  evident  from  Matt.  11  :  12,  13, 
"  And  from  the  days  of  John  the  Baptist 
until  now  the  kingdom  of  heaven  suffered! 
violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force. 
For  all  the  prophets  and  all  the  law  pro- 
phesied until  John."  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  began  just  where  the  law  and  the 
prophets  ended.  The  law  and  the  pro- 
phets were  until  John,  when  the  new  dis- 
pensation   opened,   and    the   kingdom    of 


BECOMING    A    BAIT  I  ST.  13 

God  was  preached.  Hence  Mark  1:1, 
John's  ministry  is  called  "  The  beginning 
of  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God."  Mr. 
Benson  remarks  in  his  commentary  on  this 
text,  "  The  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  began, 
according  to  the  prediction  of  the  prophets, 
with  the  preaching  and  baptism  of  John 
the  Baptist."  Hence  Zecharias  his  father 
declared  at  his  birth,  by  the  inspiration  of 
God,  that  "  The  day  spring  from  on  high 
hath  visited  us  to  give  light  to  them  thai 
sit  in  darkness,"  &c,  Luke  1  :  78,  79 
"  That  is,"  says  Mr.  Benson,  "  the  Gospel 
dispensation  is  as  superior  to  the  Patri- 
archal, or  Mosaic,  with  their  types  and 
shadows,  as  the  light  of  the  rising  sun  is 
superior  to  the  moon  and  stars.  This 
gospel  day  dawned  in  the  ministry  of  John 
the  Baptist,  and  it  increased  more  and 
more  during  the  personal  ministry  of 
Christ,  and  it  shone  out  with  meridian 
splendor  on  the  day  of  Pentecost."  This 
view  explains  Matt.  11 :  11.  The  phrase, 
"  He  that  is  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  greater  than  he,"  does  not  mean  that 
he  was  not  in  that  kingdom  at  all ;  but 
that  he  was  only  acquainted  with  its  rudi- 
ments, while  the  future  subjects  of  Christ's 
kingdom  were  destined  to  enjoy  its  privi« 
leges  in  its  matured  state. 


14  REASONS    FOR 

Having  therefore  satisfied  my  mind  that 
John's  ministry  was  not  under  the  law  but 
under  the  gospel,  I  was  about  to  conclude 
that  his  baptism  was  a  gospel  ordinance, 
when  the  thought  occurred  to  me  that 
some  of  his  disciples  had  been  rebaptized. 
This  led  me  to  examine  the  passage  in 
Acts  19  :  1 — 6.  These  persons  were  un- 
doubtedly rebaptized.  But  why  ?  Was 
it  because  of  any  imperfection  in  John's 
baptism  ?  I  think'  not.  But  the  whole 
passage  implies  that  they  had  been  bap- 
tized irregularly.  For,  1.  It  does  not 
appear  that  John  himself  ever  baptized 
them.  The  text  does  not  say  that  he  did  ; 
for  had  he,  we  have  reason  to  believe  that 
he  would  have  given  them  instruction 
upon  those  points  on  which  they  were 
profoundly  ignorant.  So  ignorant  were 
they  that  they  said,  "  We  have  not  so 
much  as  heard  whether  there  be  anv  Holy 
Ghost." 

Now,  could  they  have  attended  upon  the 
ministry  of  John  and  been  so  ignorant  ? 
Review  John's  discourses,  and  you  will 
see  that  would  be  impossible.  To  use  the 
words  of  Prof.  Ripley — "  Their  baptism, 
then,  was  an  altogether  ignorant  and 
irregular  transaction  ;  it  was  in  truth  a 
nullity.     And  on  this   ground,  doubtless, 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  15 

the  apostles   required  them,  having   since, 
become  Christians,  and  having  now  been 
properly  instructed,  to  be  baptized  in  the 
of  the  Lord  Jesus." 

The  baptism  of  John,  when  regularly 
administered,  was  evidently  considered 
by  the  first  Christian  church  essentially 
ime  with  Christian  baptism.  Hence 
we  do  not  find  that' any  apostle,  or  other 
disciple  of  Jesus,  was  the  second  time 
baptized  ;  not  even  Apollos,  mentioned  in 
Acts  IS  :  25,  because  he  had  before  be 
lieved  in  Jesus  Christ,  although  he  had 
received  only  the  baptism  of  John. 

This  objection  being  obviated,  my  con- 
clusion was,  that  John's  baptism  was  a 
gospel  ordinance.  This  conclusion  was, 
if  possible,  still  more  strongly  confirmed 
in  my  mind  by  a  reference  to  the  fact  that 
John  and  Christ  were  baptizing  at  the 
same  time  ;  and  the  strong  intimation  that 
John  even  baptized  some  of  Christ's  dis- 
ciples. John  3  :  22 — 24,  we  read — 
"  After  these  things  came  Jesus  and  his 
disciples  in  the  land  of  Judea,  and  there 
he  tarried  with  them  and  baptized.  And 
John  also  was  baptizing  in  iEnon,  near  to 
Salim,  because  there  was  much  water 
there,  and  they  came  and  were  baptized  j 
for  John  was  not  yet  cast  into  prison." 


1G  REASONS    FOR 

And  they  came  and  were  baptized.  Who  ? 
The  word  "  disciples"  seems  to  be  the 
antecedent  to  the  pronoun  "  they."  If  so, 
is  it  not  presumptive  that  "  they" — the 
disciples  of  Christ — "  came,  and  were 
baptized"  by  John  ?  This  appears  to  me 
more  than  probable. 

Christ's  baptism  was  the  next  subject 
into  which  I  looked.  I  had  always  thought 
that  the  baptism  of  Jesus  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  Christian  ordinance,  supposing 
that  he  was  baptized  as  a  priest.  But 
here  I  found  myself  in  error.  Christ  w7as 
not  baptized  as  a  Jewish  Priest,  for  he 
did  not  belong  to  the  Jewish  priesthood. 
In  Heb.  7  :  14,  St.  Paul  says,  "  It  is  evi- 
dent that  our  Lord  sprang  out  of  Judah  ; 
of  which  tribe  Moses  spake  nothing  con- 
cerning the  priesthood."  Of  course  no 
statute  of  the  Mosaic  law  touched  the 
priesthood  of  Christ,  who,  verse  13,  the 
apostle  says,  "  pertained  to  another  tribe 
of  which  no  man  gave  attendance  at  the 
altar." 

Christ's  baptism,  therefore,  was  not  a 
Jewish  ordinance.  What  was  it,  then  ? 
In  Matt.  3  :  13,  and  in  John  1  :  32,  33, 
we  have  the  answer — "  Thus  itbecometh 
us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness."     The  term 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  17 

"  righteousness"   denotes  practical  uledi- 
ence.     See  Luke  1:6. 

Mark  the  phrase,  "  thus  it  becometh  us." 

That  is,  both  myself  and  yourself;  for 
when  Christ  speaks  of  himself  alone,  he 
always  uses  the  singular  number.  Here 
was  a  duty  for  both  John  and  Christ  to 
perform.  Why  ?  It  wras  an  appointment 
of  the  Father  that  Christ  should  be  made 
manifest  to  Israel  at  the  time  of  his  bap- 
tism. This  fact  was  revealed  to  John  by 
Him  who  had  sent  him  to  baptize.  Though 
John  knew  him  not,  yet  he  knew  that  the 
circumstances  were  appointed  by  which  he 
should  be  made  known  both  to  himself 
and  Israel  as  the  Messiah.  John  1  :  31, 
33.  John  says,  "  I  knew  him  not ;  but  he 
that  sent  me  to  baptize  with  water,  the 
same  said  unto  me,  Upon  whom  thou  shaft 
see  the  Spirit  descending  and  remaii 
on  him,  the  same  is  he  which  baptizeth 
with  the  Holy  Ghost." 

By  this  account  we  perceive  that  the 
;n  of  Christ's  baptism  was  to  ratify 
the  ordinance  ;  honoring  it  with  his  first 
manifestation  to  Israel,  and  thus  giving  it 
the  sanction  of  his  own  example.  In  this 
manifestation  of  Christ  to  Israel,  three 
things  were  evidently  taught.  1.  That 
he  should  baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost. 
2* 


18  REASONS    FOR 

2.  That  he  was  God's  anointed  ;  and  3. 
That  God  approved  of  this  act  performed 
by  him  as  the  great  Prophet,  to  teach 
both  by  precept  and  example. 

From  the  whole, my  conclusions  were 
that  Christ  was  baptized  under  the  gospel 
dispensation  ;  not  as  a  Jewish  priest ;  not 
unto  repentance, — for  he  had  no  sin  to 
repent  of, — but  as  our  great  Teacher  and 
Exemplar  of  practical  obedience  ;  ratifying 
the  ordinance,  by  sealing  it  with  his  own 
example,  that  all  his  church  should  follow 
his  steps.     I  can  see  it  in  no  other  light. 

My  next  inquiry  was,  What  was  the 
practice  of  the  Apostles  ?  Did  they  follow 
the  example  of  Christ  and  go  down  into 
the  water,  and  come  up  straightway  out 
of  the  water,  or  did  they  sprinkle  ? 

The  first  prominent  example  of  immer- 
sion is  recorded  in  Acts  8  :  3-5 — the  bap- 
tism of  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch.  The 
following  circumstances  mark  this  as  an 
undoubted  case  of  immersion,  i.  The 
Eunuch  said,  Here  is  water,  what  doth 
hinder  me  to  be  baptized  ?  2.  And  they 
went  down  both  into  the  water,  both 
Philip  and  the  Eunuch.  3.  When  in  the 
water  Philip  baptized  him.  4.  After  his 
baptism  "  they  came  up  out:  of  the  water." 

Dr.  Doddridge  remarks,    "  It  would  be 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  19 

very  unnatural  to  suppose  that  the}-  went 
down  to  the  water  merely  that  Philip 
might  take  up  a  little  water  in  his  hand 
to  pour  on  the  Eunuch.  A  person  of  his 
dignity  had  no  doubt  many  vessels  in  his 
baggage,  (bv  which  water  might  be  brought 
into  the  chariot,)  on  such  a  journey,  through 
a  desert  country  ;  a  precaution  absolutely 
necessary  for  travellers  in  those  parts, 
and  never  omitted  by  them." 

My  next  business  was  to  look  at  those 
passages  which  were  less  minute  in  detail, 
and  see  if  by  lair  construction  any  of  them 
favored  a  different  mode.  I  turned  to 
Acts  2d  and  read,  "  Then  they  that  gladly 
received  the  word  were  baptized  ;  and 
the  same  day  there  were  added  unto  them 
about  three  thousand  souls." 

Two  objections  have  been  urged  against 
the  idea  of  the  immersion  of  these  persons. 
1.  The  want  of  time  in  which  to  immerse 
such  a  multitude.  2.  The  want  of  con- 
veniences in  which  to  perform  that  rite. 

With  regard  to  the  first  objection,  it  has 
not  been  fully  demonstrated  that  twelve 
men  could  not  have  performed  that  service 
"  the  same  day."  But  if  it  were  demon- 
strated, it  is  not  certain  that  these  twelve 
men  had  to  perform  all  this  service,  for 
'here  were  seventy  others  who  had  equal 


20  REASONS    FOR 

authority  to  "baptize.  Add  this  numtier  16 
the  twelve,  and  the' difficulty  vanishes  at 
once.*  With  regard  to  the  second  objec- 
tion, there  were  ample  conveniences  in 
the  Temple,  and  it  does  not  appear  that 
the  disciples  had  yet  been  excluded  from 
the  privilege  of  the  temple.  Luke  24  :  53. 
Besides,  Jerusalem  abounded  in  cisterns, 
reservoirs,  fountains  and  pools.  So  abun- 
dant were  they,  that  Dr.  Robinson  devotes 
nineteen  pages,  in  his  work  on  Palestine, 
to  the  supply  of  water  in  Jerusalem.! 
He  says,  "  In  the  numerous  sieges  to 
which   Jerusalem  in    all  ages    has   been 


*  Some  suppose  that  there  were  one  hundred,  and 
twenty  administrators  ;  if  so,  says  Rev.  L.  Porter,  il  There 
would  have  been  twenty-five  candidates  to  each,  who 
might  easily  he  immersed  in  thirty  minutes.  "  To  twelve 
administrators,"  continues  Mr.  P.,  "  there  would  have 
been  two  hundred  and  fifty  candidates  each,  who  could 
readily  have  been  immersed  in  five  hours,  with  time  for 
resting.  Although  the  administrators  were  sufficiently 
numerous  and  the  water  sufficiently  abundant  for  the 
baptism  of  3,000  in  one  day,  we  are  not  informed  that 
3.000  were  baptized  hi  one  day.  In  one  day  3,000  were 
added  to  the  church. — See  Rev.  L.  Porter's  Notes,  p.  121. 

t  In  Jerusalem,  baths  for  immersion  were  so  numerous, 
that  the  digging  of  cisterns,  for  such  uses,  was  a  trade. 
In  the  Temple  there  were  ten  brass  layers,  each  of  which 
held  over  nine  barrels  of  water,  and  the  great  brazen  sea 
that  contained  over  500  barrels  of  water.  There  were 
also  the  pools  of  Siloam  and  Bethesda,  and  the  brooks  of 
Cedron  and  Sorek.  These  places  were  all  free. — Rev.  L 
Porter's  Notes. 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  21 

exposed,  we  no  where  read  of  a  want  of 
water  within  the  city." 

In  the  absence,  therefore,  of  all  evidence 
of  sprinkling,  with  the  examples  of  immer- 
sion already  quoted.,  together  with  the 
true  meaning  of  the  word  baptize,  my 
conclusions  were  that  they  were  immersed. 
They  were  also  the  same  with  regard  to 
the  baptism  of  Paul.  Acts  9  :  17.  Cor- 
nelius and  his  friends.  Acts  10  :  42. 
Lydia  and  her  household.  Acts  16  :  13. 
So  Paul  baptizing  at  Corinth.    Acts  IS  :  4. 

The  case  of  the  Jailor,  in  Acts  l6  :  27, 
is  more  circumstantial,  and  I  determined 
to  mark  all  the  circumstances,  and  see  on 
which  side  of  the  question  they  seemed 
most  favorable. 

1.  The  Jailor  brought  out  Paul  and 
Silas  and  said,  "  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to 
be  saved  ?" 

What  did  he  bring  them  out  of?  An- 
swer. The  prison.  Where  did  he  bring 
them  to?  Answer.  Into  his  house.  For 
it  is  added,  "  And  they  spake  unto  him 
the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  to  all  that  were 
in  his  house." 

2.  When  they  were  baptized  they  went 
out  of  his  house,  where  he  washed  their 
stripes,  and  was  baptized,  he  and  all  his. 


22  REASONS    FOR 

3.  It  appears  that  after  this  .he  "brought 
them  into  his  house." 

Now,  on  the  supposition  that  the  Jailor 
and  his  household  were  sprinkled,  I  could 
but  admit  that  it  would  have  been  much 
more  convenient,  at  the  midnight  hour,  for 
them  to  have  remained  in  his  house,  than 
to  have  gone  out.  Most  certainly  the  brief 
circumstances  here  noted  are  altogether 
on  the  side  of  immersion. 

The  next  topics  of  examination  wei*e 
those  figurative  and  metaphorical  passages 
which  speak  of  baptism. 

In  this  examination  my  chief  inquiry 
was,  which  do  they  best  represent,  sprink- 
ling or  immersion  ?  I  turned  to  Luke  12  : 
50.  "  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with, 
and  how  am  I  straitened  until  it  be  accom- 
plished." "'That  is,"  says  Prof.  Stuart, 
"  I  am  about  to  be  overwhelmed  with  suf- 
ferings, and  I  am  greatly  distressed  with 
the  prospect  of  them." 

Again,  Mark  10  :  38,  39.  Can  "  ye  be 
baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I  am  bap- 
tized with?"  That  is,  says  Prof.  Stuart, 
"  Sufferings  of  an  overwhelming  nature.' ' 

Again,  1  Cor.  15  :  29.  "  Else  what 
shall  they  do  who  are  baptized  for  the 
dead  ?"     Says  the  same  author,  "  of  what 


) 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  23 


avail  is  it  to  endure  overwhelming  sorrows, 
if  there  be  no  resurrection  of  the  dead?" 

The  baptism  of  the  hosts  of  Israel  unt 
Moses,  and  in  the  cloud,  1  Cor.  10  :  I. 
Also,  Noah  and  his  family  saved  by  water, 
"  the  like  figure  whereunto  baptism 
also  now  save  us."  1  Pet.  3  :  20.  "  T  • 
being  baptized  into  one  body,"  Gal.  3  :  27. 
"  Baptized  into  Christ,"  are  all  figurative 
passages  drawn  from,  or  intended  to  repre- 
sent baptism.  I  cannot  see  that  these 
figures  could  any  more  justify  the  idea  of 
sprinkling,  than  a  few  drops  of  water  could 
surround  and  cover  hundreds  of  thousands 
at  one  time  ;  or  float  the  ark  ;  or  that  a 
person  could  sink  down  into  a  few  drops 
of  water. 

I  concluded  this  paragraph  by  an  exami- 
nation of  Rom.  6  :  3,  and  Col.  2  :  12. 
"  Know  ye  not,  that  so  many  of  us  as 
were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ  were 
baptized  into  his  death  ?  Therefore  we 
are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  d< 
that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  from  the 
dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so 
we  also  should  walk  in  newness  of  life. 
For  if  we  have  been  planted  together  in  the 
likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  in 
the  likeness  of  his  resurrection."  "  Buried 
with  him  in 'baptism,  wherein  also  ye  are 


24-  REASONS    FOR 

risen  with  him  through  the  faith  of  the 
operation  of  God,  who  hath  raised  him 
from  the  dead." 

I  consider  that  a  careful  examination  of 
this  passage  establishes  the  following.  1. 
That  baptism  is  here  used  as  a  metaphor, 
hy  which  to  represent  the  death,  burial, 
and  resurrection  of  Christ.  2.  Of  the 
Christian's  death  to  sin,  and  resurrection 
to  spiritual  life.  Observe  the  two  phrases. 
Buried  with  him  by  baptism,  and  buried 
with  him  iri  baptism.  The  one  referring 
to  the  act  of  baptism,  and  the  other  to  the 
state  of  the  baptized.  It  is  plain  that 
sprinkling  cannot  answer  this  figure,  and 
nothing  short  of,  nothing  but  immersion  is 
intended  by  it. 

My  last  inquiry  was  as  to  the  practice 
of  the  primitive  church,  with  regard  to  im- 
mersion. This  inquiry  is  to  be  answered 
only  by  a  reference  to  the  testimony  of 
historians.  It  so  happens  that  we  have 
them  in  great  abundance. 

Tertullian,  the  oldestof  the  Latin  fathers, 
says,  "  we  die  symbolically  in  baptism." 
Upon  these  words  Rigaltius  remarks,  "  we 
are  immersed  as  if  we  suffered  death,  and 
rise  up  out  of  the  water,  as  reviving  again." 

Chrysostom  says,  "  to  be  dipped  and 
plunged  into   water,  and  then   to  rise   up 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  25 

out  of  it  a<min,  is  a  symbol  of  our  descent 
into  the  grave,  and  of  our  ascent  out  of  it 
And  therefore  Paul  calls  baptism  .a  burial, 
when  he  says,  "  we  are  therefore  buried 
with  him  by  baptism  into  death." 

So  Barnabas  sa}^,  "  we  go  down  into 
the  water  full  of  sins  and  pollution,  but 
come  up  again  bringing  forth  fruit  in  our 
hearts." 

Tertullian,  in  his  treatise  on  Baptism, 
says,  "  it  is  all  one  whether  we  are  washed 
in  the  sea,  or  in  a  pond  ;  in  a  fountain,  or 
in  a  river  ;  in  a  standing,  or  in  a  running 
water  ;  nor  is  there  any  difference  between 
those  that  John  baptized  in  Jordan,  and 
those  that  Peter  baptized  in  the  Tiber." 

Justin  Martyr,  in  his  apology  before  the 
Roman  Emperor,  says  of  those  who  dedi- 
cate themselves  to  God  through  Christ, 
upon  their  conversion,  "  they  are  brought 
to  a  place  of  water  and  washed  in  the 
name  of  God  the  Father.  Moreover  the 
person  baptized  and  illuminated,  is  bap- 
tized in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
in  the  name  of  the  Holy  £rhost." 

Basil,  archbishop  of  Caesarea,  puts  the 
following  questions  in  his  Lent  sermons, 
to  the  catechumens  before  their  baptism. 
"  How  can  we  be  placed  in  a  condition  of 
likeness  to  his  death  ?  Answer.  By  being 
3 


26  REASONS    FOR 

buried  with  him  in  baptism.  How  are  we 
to  go  down  with  him  into  the  grave  ?  By 
imitating  the  burial  of  Christ  in  baptism ; 
for  the  bodies  of  the  baptized  are  in  a  sense 
buried  in  water.  By  three  immersions 
we  administer  this  important  ceremony  of 
baptism,  that  death  may  be  represented 
in  a  figure." 

Grotius,  in  his  Annotation  on  Mart.  3  :  6, 
says,  "  That  this  rite  was  performed  by 
immersion,  and  not  by  affusion,  appears 
both  by  the  propriety  of  the  word,  and  the 
places  chosen  for  its  administration." 

Du  Pin  says,  "In  the. three  first  centu- 
ries, they  plunged  those  three  times  in  the 
water,  whom  they  baptized." 

Gregory,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  History, 
informs  us,  that  "  baptism,  in  the  primitive 
times,  was  administered  by  immersion." 

Moshehn,  speaking  of  the  second  cen- 
tury says,  "  Those  adult  persons  that  de- 
sired to  be  baptized,  received  the  sacra- 
ment of  baptism  according  to  the  ancient 
and  primitive  manner  of  celebrating  that 
institution,  even  by  immersion." 

Eusebius,  in  his  life  of  Constantine  the 
Great,  records  the  following  speech  of  the 
dying  Emperor.  "This  is  the  hour,  (that 
is,  the  hour  of  his  baptism,)  wherein  we 
may  al^o   enjoy  that   seal  which   confers 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  27 

immortality.  I  had  heretofore  taken  a 
resolution  of  doing  this  in  the  river  Jordan, 
where  our  Saviour  himself,  in  likeness  to 
us,  is  recorded  to  have  partaken  of  the 
laver."  Sickness  prevented  this  design, 
and  the  Emperor  was  baptized  in  the  usual 
way,  by  Eusebius,  in  the  suburbs  of 
Nic'omedia." 

The  truth  is,  pouring  made  its  first 
appearance  in  the  third  century.  In  cases 
of  sickness  that  would  not  allow  of  immer- 
sion, pouring  was  then  allowed,  because 
baptism  began  to  be  considered  essential 
to  salvation. 

Sprinkling  was  held  in  the  eighth  cen 
tury  in  cases  of  necessity  to  be  valid  by  a 
decision  of  Pope  Stephen  III.,  but  it  Avas 
not  until  the  year  1311  that  dipping  or 
sprinkling  were  declared  to  be  indifferent, 
which  was  done  by  the  Legislature,  in  a 
council  at  Ravenna. 

I  might  go  on  to  quote  from  historians, 
who  all  seem  united  in  one  common  ex- 
pression, viz.,  that  sprinkling  or  pouring 
is  of  a  much  later  date  than  immersion. 
The  relics  of  baptisteries  which  are  now 
standing,  and  known  to  have  been  of  an- 
cient date,  are  so  many  Monuments  in 
J'avor  of  immersion. 

Indeed,  I  know  of  no  institutirn  of  God 


28  REASONS    FOR 

that  comes  to  us  supported  by  a  greater 
amoant  of  evidence  of  its  divine  character, 
vhan  that  immersion  is  the  only  scriptural 
baptism. 

Having  fully  settled  the  question  in  my 
mind,  as  to  what  constitutes  baptism,  I 
began  to  doubt  whether  I  had  been  right 
in  my  views  as  to  its  proper  subjects  ;  for 
in  the  investigation  of  the  mode,  I  neces- 
sarily glanced  at  the  subjects  of  baptism. 
I  had  believed  that  there  were  three 
classes  of  subjects — -penitents,  believers, 
and  infants. 

The  first  I  had  founded  on  Acts  2  :  38. 
"  Repent  and  be  baptized  every  one  of 
you,"  &c.  This  error,  I  perceived,  arose 
from  my  viewing  their  repentance  in  a 
sense  which  did  not  include  saving  faith. 
The  41st  verse  corrected  my  mistake. 
"  Then  they  that  gladly  received  the  word 
were  baptized."  Their  gladly  receiving 
the  word,  implies  faith. 

This  left  me  but  two  classes  of  subjects, 
believers  and  infants.  As  to  the  former, 
there  is  no  controversy.  The  latter  only, 
claimed  my  attention.  The  subject,  there- 
fore, was  narrowed  down  to  a  single  point, 
Ought  infants  to  be  baptized  9 

I  judged  as  ministers  of  the  gospel  *bap» 
tized  in  .the  name,  so  also  must  the}'  bap- 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  29 

tize  by  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
that  the  gospel  should  contain  their  cre- 
dentials. 

I  turned  to  my  text  which  contains  our 
commission.  k'  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach 
all  nations,  baptizing  them,"  &c.  I  rea- 
soned— are  not  infants  a  part  of  all  nations  ? 
Yes.  Then  ought  we  not  to  baptize 
them  '?  But  according  to  the  order  of  the 
text,  we  ought  to  teach  first,  those  whom 
we  baptize.  But  infants  cannot  be  taught ; 
therefore  they  are  not  included  in  this 
commission.  I  then  examined  the  parallel 
text,  Mark  16  :  15,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature,"  &c.  I  said  to  myself,  infants 
are  creatures  ;  but  did  our  Lord  intend 
that  the  gospel  should  be  preached  to 
them  ?  Certainly  not :  for  he  adds — "  He 
that  believeth  and  is  baptized,"  &c.  It 
follows  therefore,  as  infants  cannot  believe, 
nor  be  taught,  so  the  Master  did  not^com- 
mission  his  servants  to  baptize  them. 

I  understand  the  commission  thus  : — 
"  Teach  all  the  gospel  who  can  be  taught, 
and  baptize  all  that  truly  believe  ;  but  in- 
fants cannot  be  taught,  therefore  }rou  are 
not  to  baptize  them." 

Infant  baptism  then,  is  not  in  the  com- 
mission given  to  the   ministers  of  Christ 


30  REASONS    FOR 

Of  this  I  am  certain.     Nothing  can  oe 
plainer.     So  I  decided,  and  so  I  believe. 

Still  I  reasoned  that  if  it  belonged  to 
Christ's  kingdom,  its  enactment  must  be 
somehow  or  somewhere  recorded.  I 
searched  the  New  Testament  for  one  pre- 
cept, but  could  find  none. 

I  then  looked  for  inferential  proof.  I 
recollected  that  this  was  the  kind  of  evi- 
dence by  which  we  proved  female  com- 
munion :  namely,  women  were  baptized, 
and  as  such,  they  had  a  right  to  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  supper.  I  thought 
inference  equally  clear  for  infant  baptism 
would  satisfy  me. 

I  turned  to  Mark  10  :  14.  "  Suffer  the 
little  children  to  come  unto  me  and  forbid 
them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven."  I  had  no  evidence  that  this 
passage  had  any  allusion  to  baptism.  The 
children  were  brought  to  Christ,  not  to  be 
baptised,  but  to  be  blest ;  and  when  Christ 
had  prayed  for  them  and  blessed  them, 
they  went  away  as  they  came,  unbaptized. 
Mr.  Scott  says  that  the  reason  why  they 
were  not  baptized  was,  because  they  had 
been  circumcised.  But  had  not  all  the 
male  disciples  of  Christ  been  circumcised? 

It  is  not  contended  that  these  children 
were   baptized,  or  brought   to   Christ  for 


BECOMIXG    A    BAPTIST.  31 

tliat  purpose  ;  but  that  the  phrase,  "  Of 

such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  implies, 
that  they  were  the  proper  subjects  of  bap- 
tism ;  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  means 
either  the  world  of  future  glory,  or  the 
gospel  church  ;  that  if  they  are  the  proper 
subjects  of  the  former,  they  must  be  of  the 
latter. 

But  query — Are  infants  the  proper  sub- 
jects of  the  kingdom  of  glory  '?  If  so,  they 
are  holy,  and  of  course  the  doctrine  of  hu- 
man depravity  cannot  be  true.  But  we 
all  believe  that  infants  are  unholy,  and  as 
such  they  are  not  fit  for  heaven,  and  can 
no  more  be  admitted  into  that  holy  place 
than  we,  without  a  change  of  heart. 
Therefore  infants,  with  the  nature  with 
which  they  were  born  into  this  world,  are 
not  the  proper  subjects  of  the  heavenly 
world.* 

Again.  Are  they  the  proper  subjects 
of  Christ's  kingdom  on  earth  ?  If  so,  are 
"they  not  the  subjects  of  the  laws,  and 
privileges  of  that  kingdom  ? 

What  laws  can  infants  be  the  subjects 
of,  and  what  privileges   can  they  enjoy  ? 

*  Still  I  believe  that  all  who  die  in  infancy  are  saved. 
But  n<:>t  because  they  are  naturally  holy.  I  trust  that 
through  the  infinite  benevolence  of  God,  as  they  have 
never  actually  ginned,  so.  the  merits  of  Jesus  will  be  un- 
conditionally app^ed  to  regenerate  and  save  them. 


32  REASONS    FOR    . 

Answer.  None.  They  may  be  baptized, 
and  they  may  partake  of  the  holy  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  supper,  which  they 
ought  to  do  if  they  are  members  of  the 
church.  Hence  infant  communion  is 
almost,  or  quite,  as  old  as  infant  baptism. 
But  is  all  this  obeying -the  laws  and  enjoy- 
ing the  privileges  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ? 
I  think  not. 

I  see  then  no  evidence  that  infants  are 
the  proper  subjects  of  either  the  kingdom 
of  grace,  or  glory.  The  word  "  skc/i"  in 
the  text,  I  do  not  understand  to  express 
identity,  but  comparison.  The  context 
plainly  -shows  it.  "  And  Jesus  called  a 
little  child  unto  him  and  set  him  in  the 
midst  of  them,  and  said,  Verily,  verily  I 
say  unto  you,  except  }*e  be  converted,  and 
become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Whosoever 
therefore  shall  humble  himself  as  this  little 
child,  the  same  is  greatest  in  the  kingdom 
of  heaven."  No  one  supposes  that  Christ 
meant  to  teach  that  we  must  shrink  into 
the  size  and  age  of  little  children  by  hum- 
bling ourselves  as  little  children.  Conse- 
quently, in  that  passage  where  Christ 
says,  "  Whosoever  shall  not  receive  the 
kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child,  he  shall 
not  enter  therein,"  he  would  teach  us  that 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  33 

adults  must  receive  the  kingdom  of  God 
in  that  humble,  meek,  and  depending 
temper,  which  will  make  them  appear 
like  or  as  little  children.  So  we  believe 
that  Christ  uses  the  word  "  such"  as  a 
term  of  comparison.  Hence  this  passage 
does  not  appear  to  have  any  thing  to  do 
with  baptism,  either  directly  or  indirectly. 

The  next  passage  to  which  I  looked  is 
found  1  Cor.  7  :  12 — 14.  "  Else  were  your 
children  unclean,  but  now  are  they  holy." 

What  holiness  ?  It  is  either  moral, 
ceremonial,  or  civil.  It  could  not  be  moral 
holiness,  for  holiness  is  not  hereditary. 
It  could  not  be  ceremonial  holiness,  for 
the  ceremonial  law  was  abolished.  It 
follows,  then,  that  it  must  be  civil  holiness, 
— these  children  being  the  pure  and  legiti- 
mate offspring  of  the  holy  institution  of 
matrimony  ;  and  hence  the  true  sense  of 
the  text  evidently  is — Else  were  your 
children  illegitimate,  but  now  are  they 
legitimate.  I  ask  again,  what  has  this  to 
do  with  baptism  ? 

I  next  inquired  if  it  could  not  be  inferred 
from  what  the  scriptures  say  of  the  bap- 
tism of  whole  householders  ? 

At  Phillipi  there  were  two  households 
baptized — Lydia's,  Acts  16  :  13,  and  the 
jailoi's,    verse     33.     Lydia's     household 


34  REASONS    FOR 

comprised  all  who  were  first  baptized 
within  the  boundaries  of  Europe,  and  the 
jailor's  the  second  company  of  baptized 
individuals. 

This  company  Paul  and  Silas  left  at  the 
prison  when  they  went  back  and  entered 
the  house  of  Lydia.  Here  "  they  saw  and 
comforted  the  brethren."  What  brethren  ? 
Were  they  not  those  believing  individuals 
whom  they  baptized  in  the  family  of  Lydia? 

Dr.  Whitby  on  this  passage,  says  : — 
"  And  when  she  and  those  of  her  house- 
hold were  instructed  in  the  Christian  faith, 
in  the  nature  of  baptism  required  by  it, 
she  was  baptized,  and  her  household." 

The  assembly  of  divines  in  their  anno- 
tations and  note  on  this  text  say,  that 
"  Paul  and  Silas  entered  into  the  house 
of  Lydia  doubtless  to  confirm  them  in  the 
faith,  which  they  had  preached  to  them. 
Lydia  and  hers  hearing  of  their  miraculous 
deliverance,  could  not  but  be  comforted 
and  confirmed  in  the  faith."  These  testi- 
monies from  Pedo-baptists  show  that  there 
is  nothing  to  be  drawn  from  this,  in  favor 
of  infant  baptism. 

As  to  the  jailor's  household,  I  could  find 
no  infants  there.  It  is  said  that  the  apos- 
tles spake  unto  him  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
and  to  all  that  were  in  his  house.     Mark 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  35 

ya — they  spake  the  word  of  the  Lord  "  to 
all  that  were  in  his  house."  Would  they 
speak  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  infants  ? 
Certainly  not  ;  but  they  spake  the  word  to 
all  that  were  in  his  house.  It  follows  then 
that  there  were  no  infants  in  his  house. 

And  hence  verse  34th  says,  '•  that  when 
he  had  brought  them  into  his  house,  he  set 
meat  before  them,  and  rejoiced,  believing 
in  God  with  all  his  house."  As  Matthew 
Henry  says,  "  the  voice  of  rejoicing,  with 
that  of  salvation,  was  heard  in  the  jailor's 
house.  He  rejoiced,  believing  in  God  with 
all  his  house.  There  were  none  in  his 
house  that  refused  to  be  baptized,  and  so 
make  a  jar  in  the  ceremony  ;  but  they 
were  unanimous  in  embracing  the  gospel, 
which  added  much  to  their  joy." 

Acts  8  :  4,  5 — S,  we  are  informed  of 
the  baptism  of  Crispus  and  his  household. 
But  it  is  said  that  he  "  believed  on  the 
Lord  with  all  his  house."  Hence  they 
were  all  believers,  and  no  infants. 

The  next  is  the  household  of  Stephanas. 
1  Cor.  1  :  16.  Of  this  household  Paul 
says,  ch.  16  :  1-5,  "  Ye  know  the  house  of 
Stephanas,  that  it  is  the  first  fruits  of 
Achaia."  Fruits  of  what  ?  The  ministry 
of  the  word  by  which  they  believed,  who 


36  REASONS    FOR 

were  rendered  the  proper  subjects  of  bap- 
tism. 

Of  this  household  Paul  further  adds, 
"  that  they  have  addicted  themselves  to> 
the  ministry  of  the  saints."  To  whom 
will  this  apply  ?  Not  to  infants.  We 
know  that  none  but  adults  could  adminis- 
ter to  the  wants  of  the  poor  persecuted 
followers  of  Jesus. 

The  household  of  Cornelius,  Acts  x. 
Here  is  the  formation  of  the  first  Christian 
church  among  the  Gentiles  ;  and  as  such 
we  should  look  to  it  as  a  model  church. 
But  what  is  the  sum  of  the  wmole  history 
bearing  upon  this  question  ?  It  is  simply 
this  :  1.  Peter  preaches  to  them.  2.  The 
Holy  Ghost  falls  upon  them.  They  re- 
ceive it  and  believe  ;  and  3.  They  are 
baptized. 

Now,  if  the  infants  of  those  who  believed 
were  also  to  be  admitted  into  the  pale  of 
the  visible  church  of  Christ,  the  apostle 
omitted  a  very  important  item  in  giving  to 
the  gentile  world  a  model  for  a  Gospe] 
church.  There  were  doubtless  many 
families  present  to  hear  Peter,  who  were 
converted  to  God  under  his  ministry,  and 
yet  after  all  there  was  not  an  infant  bap- 
tized, nor  a  single  hint  cnven  to  that  effect. 

Surely  Pedo-baptist  missionaries  in  hea- 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  37 

then  In  nds  do  not  follow  Peter's  example. 
From  their  journals  we  find  that  they  as 
regularly  baptize  the  children  of  their  con- 
verts as  they  do  the  converts  themselves. 
But  why  Peter  neglected  this  branch  of 
his  duty  I  cannot  conceive,  unless  he  were 
a  Baptist,  and  had  no  confidence  in  infant 
baptism.  Confidence,  did  I  say  ?  I  doubt 
whether  he  had  ever  heard  of  such  a  thing. 
Ay,  more.  I  seriously  doubt  whether  he 
had  ever  thought  of  such  a  thins:.  I  am 
sure  I  never  should  if  I  had  never  heard 
any  more  about  it  than  what  is  taught  in 
the  Bible. 

Again,  I  looked  for  some  intimations 
which  might  favor  infant  baptism  in  Acts 
2.  But  I  found  that  all  who  were  baptized 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost  were  believers. 
1.  They  were  pricked  to  the  heart,  and 
said,  &c.  2.  They  were  required  to  re- 
pent, &c.  3.  "  Then  they  that  gladly 
received  the  word  were  baptized."  4. 
"  They  continued  steadfast  in  the  apostles' 
doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  the  break- 
ing of  bread,  and  in  prayers." 

But  did  not  the  apostle  hint  at  the  bap- 
tism of  infants,  when  he  said,  "the  promise 
is  to  you  and  your  children  V"  I  think  not; 
for  to  what  "promise"  does  he  refer? 
Answer.  The  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
4 


3S  REASONS    FOR 

which  infant. children  are  incapable  of  re- 
ceiving. But  a  cursory  view  of  his  dis- 
course makes  this  evident. 

The  Apostle's  exhortation  teaches  that 
upon  their  repentance  and  baptism  they 
should  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
"  For  the  promise,"  says  he,  "  is  unto  you 
and  your  children — even  as  many  as  the 
Lord  our  God  shall  call."  The  promise, 
then,  can  only  be  claimed  by  such  as  re- 
pent and  are  baptized,  having  been  called 
by  the  Gospel.  The  children  mentioned 
are  such  as  can  repent,  and  hence  the 
term  does  not  mean  infants  ;  but  posterity. 
The  promise  is  recorded  in  Joel  2  :  28. 
And  the  children  are  those  mentioned  m 
Acts  2  :  17,  18.  "  Your  sons  and  your 
daughters,  young  men,  servants  and  hand- 
maids." 

One  more  case.  We  learn  in  the  eighth 
chapter  of  Acts,  that  Philip,  one  of  the 
first  deacons  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem, 
became  the  instrument  of  a  revival  of  re- 
ligion that  moved  the  city  of  Samaria.  So 
general  was  the  work,  that  it  is  said  that. 
"  the  people  with  one  accord  gave  heed 
unto  the  things  that  Philip  spake,"  &c.  And 
that  "  when  they  believed,  they  were  bap- 
tized, both  men  and  women." 

Strange,  indeed,  that  Philip  should  have 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  39 

neglected  the  children.  If  he  did  net,  it  is 
equally  singular  that  Luke  omitted  the 
mention  of  it.  He  says  he  baptized  both 
men  and  women.  Wfry  not  children,  also? 
Then  it  would  have  read,  "  Baptized  men, 
women  and  children."  lam  satisfied  why 
the  word  children  was  not  added ;  and  so  / 
think  every  honest  man  must  be  who  ex- 
amines this  subject,  and  draws  his  proofs 
from  the  holy  scriptures. 

I  thus  went  through  the  New  Testament 
scriptures,  and  asked,  where  is  infant  bap- 
tism to  be  found  ?  And  echo  answered, 
Where  ?  It  was  not  there,  neither  in  pre- 
cept, example,  intimation,  nor  inference,  as 
I  could  see. 

Pedo-baptists  admit  the  silence  ofthe  New 
Testament  upon  infant  baptism.  But  this 
silence, they  say,  is  one  ofthe  strongest  ar- 
guments in  favor  of  its  truth.  They  say 
that  baptism  is  substituted  in  the  place  of 
circumcision,  and  that  all  believers  are 
under  the  Abrahamic  covenant.  Now,  as 
children  were  interested  in  that  covenant 
.under  the  law,  so  must  they  also  be  under 
the  gospel,  unless  the  gospel  states  to  the 
coutraiy.  The  gospel  being  silent  upon 
that  subject,  makes  it  sure  that  infant  chil- 
dren are  to  receive  the  substitute  of  circum- 
cision, namely,  baptism.     In  this   whole 


40  REASONS    FOR 

statement  I  find  the  premises  are  assumed. 
They  are  not  proved,  neither  can  they  be 
proved.  What  then  becomes  of  the  con- 
clusions drawn  from  them  ?  I  was  led  to 
this  decision  by  an  examination,  critically, 
for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  of  the  Abra.- 
hamic  covenant.  It  is  recorded  in  Gen.  17. 
This  covenant  embraces,  1.  God's  promise 
to  Abraham,  that  be  should  be  the  father  to 
many  nations — and  of  kings— that  he  would 
be  his  God,  and  the  God  of  his  posterity,  to 
whom  he  promises  to  give  the  land  of  Ca- 
naan for  an  everlasting  possession. 

2.  This  covenant  was  conditional ; — 
which  condition  he  and  his  posterity  must 
comply  with,  in  order  to  a  fulfilment  of  the 
promise,  "  Thou  shalt  keep  my  covenant, 
thou  and  thy  seed  after  thee,  in  their  een- 
e  rat  ions.  This  is  my  covenant  which  ye 
shall  keep  between  me  and  you,  and  thy 
seed  after  thee.  Every  man-child  among 
you  shall  be  circumcised." 

In  order  to  ascertain  whether  we  areui- 
der  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  and  that  bap- 
tism is  the  substitute  for  circumcision,  I  in- 
quired : — 1.  What  part  of  the  law  of  cir- 
cumcision as  applicable  to  baptism  is  still 
in  force?  The  rite  itself  is  abolished.  Here 
we  all  agree.  But  what  in  reference  to  the 
law  of  circumcision  is  binding  ? 


BE  COM  IN  ft    A    BAPTIST.  41 

Does  it  include  forks  substitute  the  sr.me 
classes  of  subjects,  viz. — Infant  children, 
slaves  and  domestics,  whether  adults  or  in- 
fants, believers  or  unbelievers,  and  finally 
none  but  males?  Does  it  require  us  to  bap- 
tize our  children  precisely  at  eight  days 
old,  under  the/penalty  of  breaking  the  cove- 
nant '?  What  is  the  practice  of  the  whole 
Pedo-baptist  world?  Do  they  not  baptize 
their  infants  at  any  age,  and  of  both  sexes 
— adult  slaves  and  domestics  not  at  all, 
except  by  their  own  request  as  believers  ? 
Why  depart  from  this  law  ?  Is  not  the 
gospel  silent  upon  this  subject,  and  does 
not  this  silence  imply,  according  to  their 
own  argument,  that  it  is  still  binding  ? 

2.  What  was  the  design  of  circumcision? 
I  instituted  this  inquiry  to  ascertain  if  bap- 
tism answers  the  same  design.  For  sure- 
iv  it  ought,  if  believers  are  under  the  Abra- 
hamic  covenant.  1.  The  first  design  of  it 
was  to  form  a  national  church,  the  nucleus 
of  which  was  in  the  family  of  Abraham. 
It  was  a  rite  by  which  persons  became 
entitled  to  all  its  blessings  and  privileges, 
which,  as  promised  in  Genesis,  17th  chap- 
ter, were  principally  of  a  temporal  nature. 
1  need  only  to  ask,  is  this  the  design  of 
baptism  ?  We  know  it  is  not.  2.  Cir- 
cumcision was  designed  to  prefigure  the 


42  BE^SONSFOR 

necessity  of  regeneration.  Rom.  2:28, 
29.  "For  he  is  not  a  Jew  who  is  one  out- 
wardly ;  *  *  and  circumcision  is  that  of 
the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  let- 
ter ;  whose  praise  is  not  of  men,  but  of 
God."     Gal.  4  :   15.     Col.  2:11. 

This  rite,  then,  when  applied  to  infants, 
was  designed  to  show  the  want  of  a  new 
heart,  and  not  the  actual  possession  of  it. 
But  baptism  does  not  teach  the  necessity 
of  the  new  birth  ;  it  is  the  "  outward  and 
visible  sign  of  the  inward,  and  spiritual 
grace"  already  received,  and  must  be  in- 
applicable to  all  infants,  unless  we  regard 
it  as  regeneration,  as  some  Pedo-baptists 
do,  in  which  they  are  consistent,  thougn 
the  doctrine  itself  is  absurd. 

3.  The  sign  of  circumcision  was  design- 
ed to  be  a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  faith, 
Rom.  4  :  3.  It  was  a  seal  to  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  alone.  It  was  in- 
tended to  perpetuate  this  glorious  doc- 
trine,— that  there  was  a  substitute  for  the 
law  of  works  or  perfect  obedience  as  a  con- 
dition of  the  sinner's  justification.  It  was 
the  seal  of  this  blessed  truth.  It  preached 
it  until  the  gospel  day,  every  time  this  rite 
was  administered.  It  was  not  the  condi- 
tion of  justification,  for  Abraham  was  jus- 
tified when  in  uncircumcision.     It  was  not 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  43 

the  badge  of  its  profession  ;  but  it  was  a 
seal  to  its  truth  and  perpetuation. 

Is  baptism  the  seal  of  the  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith  ?  Answer.  It  is  not. 
Christ  has  scaled  the  doctrine  in  his  own 
person  and  ministry.  Circumcision  sealed 
it  until  Christ  came.  To  circumcise  after 
Christ's  ministry  had  been  enjoyed,  was  a 
tacit  denial  of  Christ.  It  was  a  refusal  to 
admit  the  truth  of  Christ's  ministry,  and  a 
going  back  to  the  law,  and  bearing  its 
heavy  yoke,  from  which  Christ  makes  his 
people  free.  Hence  Paul  says,  Gal.  5  :  2, 
'3,  "  If  ye  be  circumcised,  Christ  shall 
profit  you  nothing.  For  I  testify  again  to 
every  man  that  is  circumcised  that  ho  is  a 
debtor  to  do  the  whole  law."  Such  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  gospel.  He  has 
more  confidence  in  this  bloody  rite  than 
he  has  in  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ.  If 
baptism  be  the  substitute  of  circumcision, 
then  it  must  be  the  seal  of  the  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith.  But  why  have  this 
seal  when  we  have  the  thing  for  which  it 
was  instituted  ?  Has  not  Christ  sealed 
this  truth  in  his  life,  death,  resurrection, 
ascension  into  heaven,  and  his  preached 
gospel  ?  Is  baptism  more  significant  than 
all  this  ?  I  challenge  the  Christian  world 
to  find  a  single  passage  that  intimates  that 


44  REASONS    FOR 

baptism  is  the  seal  of  the  righteousness  of 
faith.  Where,  then,  is  the  evidence  that 
baptism  is  substituted  for  circumcision  ? 

But  it  is  said  that  we  are  still  under  the 
Abrahamic  covenant.  We  will  suppose 
for  a  moment  that  we  are.  If  so,  those 
children  who  were  circumcised  previous 
to  the  institution  of  the  ordinance  of  bap- 
tism needed  not  to  be  baptized  in  order  to 
become  members  of  the  gospel  church, 
because  they  had  fulfilled  the  condition  of 
that  covenant  in  their  circumcision  ;  and 
as  baptism  is  designed  for  the  same  pur- 
pose, its  administration  to  all  such  would 
not  only  be  unnecessary  but  improper.  It 
would  be  the  same  as  baptizing  a  person 
twice,  each  of  which  being  according  to 
the  divine  institution. 

Yet  all  John's  subjects  had  been  cir- 
cumcised. All  Christ's  disciples  had  been 
circumcised.  .  All  the  males  of  the  three 
thousand  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  had  also 
received  that  rite,  and  Paul,  speaking  of 
himself,  says  that  he  was  circumcised  the 
eighth  day — and  yet  when  he  believed  he 
was  baptised.  What,  I  could  but  ask  my- 
self, were  all  these  persons  baptized  for,  if 
they  had  already  fulfilled  the  condition  of 
the  Abrahamic  covenant  ?  The  truth  is, 
I  have  concluded  that  believers  under  the 


BECOMING     A    BAPTIST.  45 

gospel  are  not  under  this  covenant,  but  ns 
St.  Paul  says,  Heb.  8  :  6,  "a  better  cove- 
nant,  which  was  established  upon  better 
promises." 

I  see  then  nothing  in  the  promise  of  the 
Abraham ic  covenant — nothing  in  the  la\K 
of  circumcision — nor  in  the  design  of  the 
institution,  that  intimates  that  baptism  is 
to  be  its  substitute,  and  withal  I  am  well 
satisfied  that  believers  are  not  under  the 
covenant  of  circumcision. 

If  we  were  disposed  to  turn  the  tables, 
we  think  it  would  not  be  a  difficult  task  to 
show,  that  the  design  of  baptism  is  totally 
dissimilar  from  that  of  circumcision.  But 
for  want  of  time  we  will  not  pursue  this 
idea. 

Of  one  thing,  however,  I  feel  well  assur- 
ed, and  that  is,  that  these  two  institutions 
are  as  dissimilar  one  to  the  other  in  their 
design,  as  they  are  in  their  forms. 

I  think  it  can  be  satisfactorily  shown 
from  the  New  Testament,  that  baptism 
never  was  designed  to  be  a  substitute  for 
circumcision.* 

In  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  the  Acts  of 
the  xVpostles,  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  a 
council,  comprising  most  if  not  all  of  the 

*  See  page  53. 


46  REASONS    FOR 

apostles  and  elders  of  the  whole  Cnristian 
church,  and  by  the  approbation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  we  see  circumcision  put  down  and  no 
substitute  proposed  in  its  room.  In  this 
whole  account  there  is  not  the  most  distant 
hint  that  baptism  was  to  be  the  practice  in 
the  room  of  circumcision. 

In  the  twenty-first  chapter  of  Acts,  there 
is  a  case  still  plainer  than  the  one  record- 
ed in  the  fifteenth  chapter.  When  Paul 
made  his  last  visit  to  Jerusalem,  we  are 
informed  that  the  day  after  his  arrival  he 
went  in  unto  James,  and  all  the  eiders 
were  present.  Before  these  he  rehearsed 
what  wonders  God  had  wrought  among 
the  Gentiles  by  his  ministry.  And  when 
they  heard  it  they  glorified  the  Lord.  But 
one  of  them  remarked,  "  Thou  seest,  broth- 
er, how  many  thousands  of  the  Jews  there 
are  which  believe,,  and  they  are  all  zealous 
of  the  law  ;  and  they  are  informed  of  thee, 
that  thou  teachest  all  the  Jews  that  are 
among  the  Gentiles  to  forsake  Moses,  say- 
ing that  they  ought!  not  to  circumcise  their 
children." 

Here  is  a  case  directly  in  point.  Paul 
is  charged  with  teaching:  his  Jewish  con- 
verts  to  neglect  the  circumcising  their 
children  ;  but  in  case  he  taught  them  to 
baptize  in  its  room,  was  he  not  called  upon 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.     '         47 

in  the  most  imperious  manner  in  self-de- 
fence to  have  declared  it  ?  But  did  he  ? 
No.  His  total  silence  on  that  occasion 
comes  to  my  mind  with  all  the  weight  of 
positive  evidence,  that  no  such  practice 
was  then  in  existence. 

Where,  then,  is  the  evidence  for  infant 
baptism  ?  It  is  not  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. It  is  not  in  the  Old  Testament. — 
Nor  is  it  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
if  taken  both  together.  Where,  then,  is  the 
proof?  The  Roman  Catholic  church  may 
answer,  but  revelation  is  silent. 

I  am  quite  sure  it  is  not  an  institution  of 
Christ,  that  it  was  not  practised  by  his 
apostles,  nor  during  the  apostolic  age  ; — 
that  it  is  an  institution  of  man,  originating 
in  false  views  of  the  design  of  baptism  it- 
self, and  was  not  known  in  the  Christian 
church  until  the  latter  part  of  the  second 
century,  or  the  beginning  of  the  third.  I 
fully  believe  with  Martin  Luther,  as  to  in- 
fant baptism  it  cannot  be  proved  by  the  sa- 
cred scriptures  that  it  was  instituted  by 
Christ,  or  begun  by  the  first  Christians 
alter  the  npostles."  I  know  it  has  been 
said,  that  Iremeus  states  that  "  the  church 
received  a  tradition  from  the  apostles  to 
administer  baptism  to  little  children,  or 
infants."     This   would  be  coming  pretty 


48  ^         REASONS    FOR 

near  to  it.  For  Irenaeus  was  a  disciple  of 
Polycarp,  and  Polycarp'was  a  disciple  of 
John  the  Evangelist ;  but  Dr.  Gill  has 
spoiled  this  argument  by  challenging  the 
whole  literary  world  to  produce  such  a 
passage  from  the  writings  of  Irenaeus.  It 
was  afterwards  acknowledged  that  Origen, 
of  the  third  century,  and  not  Irenaeus  of 
the  second,  was  the  writer  intended. 

Tertullian,  of  Africa,  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  second,  or  beginning  of  the  third  cen- 
tury, is  supposed  to  be  the  first  writer  who 
makes  any  mention  of  infant  baptism.  He 
wrote  a  book  against  the  indiscriminate 
baptism  of  minors.  He  contends  that  it  is 
most  expedient  to  be  regulated  by  the  dis- 
position and  age  of  the  person  to  be  bap- 
tized. He  says,  "  Let  them  come  while 
they  are  growing  up,  let  them  come  and 
learn,  and  let  them  be  instructed  when 
they  come,  and  when  they  understand 
Christianity,  let  them  profess  themselves 
Christians." 

About  the  middle  of  the  third  century, 
or  about  fifty  years  after  Tertullian,  the 
people  in  Africa  had  got  baptism  down  to 
new-born  babes.  i 

Fidus,  a  country  bishop,  wrote  to  Cy- 
prian of  Carthage,  to  know  whether  chil- 
dren might  be  baptized  before  they  were 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  49 

eight  days  old,  for  by  his  bible  he  could 
not  tell.  This  question  could  not  be  deci- 
ded by  Cyprian  without  consulting  a  coun- 
cil of  bishops.  This  council  consisted  of 
between  sixty  and  seventy  bishops,  who 
finally  decided,  that  as  baptism  was  so  ne- 
cessary to  save  men,  infants  ought  to  enjoy 
the  benefits  of  it  as  soon  as  they  were  born. 

Here  lies  the  secret  of  the  origin  of  infant 
baptism.  If  men  had  not  blended  it  with 
regeneration  and  made  it  regeneration  it- 
self,  it  had  never  been  known.  TSo  argu- 
ment was  then  sought  from  the  example  or 
precept  of  Christ,  or  his  apostles.  It  was 
wholly  a  matter  of  expediency,  and  was 
introduced  and  prevailed  for  the  sake  of 
the  salvation  of  precious,  immortal  souls  ! 
Dr.  Gill  says,  "  No  instance  can  be  given 
of  infant  baptism,  so  early  as  of  infant 
communion." 

If  it  be  asked,  how  could  infant  baptism 
ever  have  been  begun  in  the  church  ?  the 
answer  is,  just  as  the  worship  of  angels 
and  saints,  and  praying  to  them,  celibacy 
of  the  clergy,  the  observation  of  Lent  and 
other  popish  festivals,  the  worship  of  relics, 
the  doctrine  of  purgatory  and  of  transub- 
stantiation,  and  the  order  of  monks,  were 
begun.  For  all  these  took  their  rise  in  t^e 
5 


&0  REASONS    FOR 

church  about  the  same  time  with  infant 
baptism  and  infant  communion. 

For  the  reasons  above  assigned,  I  can 
but  reject  infant  baptism  as  absurd  and 
ridiculous.  It  is  also  evil  in  its  tendency. 
It  prevents  us  from  owning  Christ  in  the 
way  of  his  appointment.  It  is  that  by 
which  Antichrist  has  extended  his  domin- 
ions over  many  nations.  It  is  the  founda- 
tion of  national  churches  ;  and  its  influence 
is  to  lessen  the  authority  of  the  word  of 
God,  which  it  makes  void  by  human  tra- 
dition. 

Thus,  my  hearers,  you  have  my  reasons 
for  changing  my  denominational  relation, 
and  you  have  heard  the  substance  of  the 
arguments  which  have  made  me  a  Baptist. 
I  was  sprinkled  soon  after  I  found  the 
Lord,  and  I  verily  thought  myself  bapti- 
zed. But  I. am  now  quite  sure  that  in  this 
I  have  erred.  And  as  baptism  is  to  answer 
a  good  conscience,  for  conscience'  sake  I 
have  been  obliged  to  make  this  concession, 
and  follow  my  Saviour.  And  I  rejoiced 
when  the  hour  came.  I  hailed  it  not  as  a 
cross.  I  complied  with  Christ's  command, 
not  as  a  task,  but  as  one  of  the  happiest 
and  most  privileged  acts  of  my  life. 
„In  conclusion  I  would  remark,  that  I 
nave  heard  much    said  about  my  being 


BECOMING    A    BAPTIST.  51 

precipitate  in  deciding  these  great  ques- 
tions. But  I  can  assure  the  public  that  I 
not  been  hasty  in  my  conclusions. — - 
And  I  think  that  those  who  have  heard  me 
on  this  occasion,  will  at  least  admit  that 
decision  on  these  points  was  never 
made  without  much  study  and  careful  re- 
search to  find  out  the  truth.  I  can  assure 
you,  and  all  whom  it  may  concern,  that 
I  never  announced  myself  a  Baptist,  until 
I  fully  and  unequivocally  believed  their 
doctrine — that  I  never  gave  up  the  sub- 
ject until,  to  my  mind,  infant  baptism  and 
sprinkling  were  annihilated,  and  nothing 
left  as  scriptural  baptism  but  the  immer- 
sion of  believers. 

It  has  been  inquired,  "  Why  did  you 
not  go  to  the  most  intelligent  of  your  min- 
isterial brethren  and  frankly  state  to  them 
your  doubt  V"  To  this  I  reply,  Why 
should  I  ?  Did  I  not  understand  all  that 
could  be  said  by  Pedo-baptists  ?  That 
ground  was  familiar  to  me,  and  I  was  cer- 
tain that  they  could  add  nothing  new. — 
They  might  have  given  me  advice,  but 
surely  they  could  not  have  given  me  argu- 
ments which  t  had  not  seen.  I  wanted 
arguments  to  counteract  the  Baptist  argu- 
ment, and  not  merely  friendly  advice. 

Finally,  I  would  say  to  all  such  as  are 


52      REASONS  FOR  BECOMING  A  BAPTIST. 

Inclined  to  censure  me  for  dissolving  my 
connexion  with  the  church  of  my  early 
choice — a  church  of  which  I  have  been  a 
member  ever  since  I  was  seventeen  years 
old,  and  in  which  I  have  been  an  ordained 
minister  for  nearly  twenty  years — I  wouid 
just  say  :  You  may  think  me  unwise,  pre- 
mature, or  even  acting  under  an  infatua- 
tion, and  in  this  you  may  be  honest.  I  also 
claim  to  be  equally  so,  in  believing  it  to  be 
my  imperative'  duty  to  come  out  as  I  have 
done  in  defence  of  what  1  regard  as  the 
truth.  Should  even  my  motives  be  im- 
pugned, still  an  approving  conscience  will 
sustain  me,  and  in  the  exercise  of  Chris- 
tian love  I  hope  to  pra}r,  "  Father,  forgive 
them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 

But  to  all  such  as  honestly  inquire,  Why 
have  you  done  this  ?  I  would  say,  consider 
well  the  statements  to  which  you  have  at- 
tentively listened.  And  above  all,  take 
the  holy  scriptures,  and  "  search  and  see  " 
for  yourselves. 

And  may  God  grant  his  Holy  Spirit,  by 
which  we  may  understand  His  word,  and 
be  made  wise  unto  salvation  thereby, 
through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.     Amen. 


I 

.Note.  In  the  16th  chapter  of  Acts  we  have  an 
account  of  Paul's  circumcising  Timothy,  upon  whom 
this  rite  had  never  been  before  performed.  For 
though  his  mother  was  a  Jewess,  yet  his  father  was 
a  Greek.  But  he  had  been  baptized,  because,  in 
verse  1,  he  is  called  a  disciple,  and  doubtless  belong- 
ed to  the  Christian  church.  For  he  was  "  well  re- 
ported by  the  brethren, 'J  &c.  ;  upon  which  the  apos- 
tle not  only  received  him  as  a  brother,  but  as* a  son 
in  the  gospel,  and  a  fellow  laborer  in  the  ministry. 
Here,  then,  is  a  clear  case  of  circumcision  after  bap- 
tism. How,  then,  could  baptism  be  its  substitute  ? 
The  substitute  must  follow — not  precede.  Besides, 
if  the  rite  of  circumcision  and  the  ordinance  of  Chris- 
tian baptism  be  the  same,  then  Paul,  by  circumcising 
Timothy,  sanctioned  the  doctrine  of  baptizing  the 
same  person  twice. 


55 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Official  Board  belonging  to  St.  Paul  a 
Station,  held  on  Friday  evening,  the  6th  inst.,  it  was  sug- 
gested that  I  should  prepare  an  address  to  my  congrega- 
tion, informing  them  of  my  change  of  Theological  views  ; 
to  meet  which,  the  following  was  prepared  and  read  to 
the  Quarterly  Meeting  Conference,  at  their  own  request, 
on  the  next  evening.  Objections  were  strongly  urged 
against  its  being  read  to  the  people,  on  the  ground  of  its 
dangerous  tendency.  Though  it  was  admitted  that  it  did 
not  contain  the  argument,  yet  to  their  mind  there  appear- 
ed a  certain  something  about  it  which  they  feared  might 
to  many  be  more  conclusive  than  the  scriptural  argument 
itself.  These  explanations  are  made,  and  the  "  farewell 
letter  "  is  published,  with  a  view  of  answering  a  question, 
which  has  been  so  often  asked,  namely, — "  Why  was  it, 
Br.  Remington,  that  you  left  us  so  suddenly  as  not  even  to 
bid  us, farewell?" 


54 


FAREWELL  LETTER  TO  MT  LATE  CHARGE. 


My  Dear  Congregation — 

Many  of  you  have  by  this  time  probably  heard 
that  your  Pastor  has  of  late  changed  his  theological 
views  on  some  points,  by  which  it  is  rendered  ne- 
cessary for  him  to  resign  his  charge  of  this  church 
and  congregation,  and  to  connect  himself  with  an- 
other church,  whose  faith  upon  these  points  is  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  own. 

It  is  due  to  himself,  and  to  the  people  to  whom  he 
has  officiated,  that  some  explanations  should  be  made 
by  which  the  cause  of  this  change  may  be  definitely 
known.  And  believing  that  none  can  be  better  qual- 
ified to  discharge  this  duty  than  himself,  the  Officio. 
Board  has  not  only  given  him  liberty  so  to  do,  but 
have  expressed  a  desire  to  have  him  do  it;  for 
which  he  feels  very  grateful  to  them,  and  equally 
free  to  discharge  the  duty,  as  he  is  grateful  for  the 
privilege. 

For  persons  to  leave  one  church  and  unite  with 
another,  is  an  occurrence  which  often  takes  place 
both  in  the  ministry  and  membership.  But  such  an 
occurrence  never  ought  to  take  place  without  being 
well  considered.  It  is  a  serious  matter,  and  ought 
pot  to  be  entered  upon  without  a  clear  conviction  of 


56  FAREWELL     LETTER 

duty.  Principle,  not  passion,  should  guide  us  in 
such  an  affair.  So  distinctly  should  we  see  every 
step  of  the  ground  over  which  we  pass  in  going  from 
one  denomination  to  another,  that  our  way  should  be 
perfectly  clear  to  ourselves,  and  there  should  not  be 
a  lingering  doubt  as  to  the  expediency  and  propriety 
of  our  eomse. 

When  a  private  member  of  a  Christian  church 
changes  his  denominational  relation,  he  should  be  so 
enlightened  himself  as  to  the  path  of  duty,  as  to  be 
prepared  on  all  proper  occasions  to  give  his  reasons 
for  so  doing. 

If  this  may  be  said  of  the  private  member  of  a 
church,  how  much  more  so  of  a  minister  who  has  the 
pastoral  oversight  of  a  church  and  congregation.  It 
is  a  duty  he  owes  to  the  people — to  the  cause  of 
Christ,  for  which  he  is  supposed  to  act,  and  to  him- 
self, that  the  ministry  be  not  blamed. 

What  I  am  now  doing  is  not  the  practical  result  of 
mere  impulse  ;  but  I  trust  that  I  am  guided  by  mo- 
tives to  glorify  God,  and  advance  the  interests  of  His 
cause.  I  cannot  but  believe  that  the  hand  of  God  is 
in  it,  for  he  hath  led  me  in  a  path  that  I  knew  not. 

A  few  months  ago,  I  should  as  soon  have  expected 
to  have  been  a  Roman  Catholic  as  a  Baptist.  Not 
that  my  opinion  of  the  latter  people  was  the  same  as 
cf  the  former.  For  I  always  believed  them  to  be  a 
good,  spiritual  people,  though  I  thought  bigoted,  and 
exceedingly  narrow  in  their  Christian  charity.  This 
I  supposed  grew  not  exactly  out  of  their  hearts,  but 


TO      MY     LATE     CHARGE.  5? 

out  of  their  creed,  or  out  of  their  peculiar  notions  of 
the  ordinance  of  baptism. 

I  acknowledge  that  I  was  strongly  prejudiced 
against  them  ;  and  so  far  did  my  prejudice  extend 
itself,  that  I  was  almost  ready  to  question  their  sin- 
cerity, and  to  look,  upon  their  rigid  adherence  to  this 
point  rather  as  a  pretext  by  which  to  proselyte  from 
other  churches. 

As  to  my  own  views  of  baptism,  I  scarcely  be- 
lieved at  all  in  immersion.  Indeed,  my  faith  was  so 
weak  as  to  this  mode,  that  I  determined  never,  when 
I  could  possibly  avoid  it,  to  be  its  administrator. — 
Secretly  did  I  almost  hope  that  such  persons  would 
go  to  the  Baptists,  where  I  thought  they  more  pro- 
perly belonged. 

Still,  occasionally  I  had  to  administer  the  ordi- 
nance, either  in  person  or  by  proxy.  For  I  generally 
found  such  persons  incurable.  If  I  talked  them  out 
of  it,  in  a  short  time  their  convictions  would  return 
again  ;  and  then  our  hands  were  tied,  and  they  must 
either  leave  our  church  and  go  to  the  Baptists,  or 
iemain  dissatisfied,  which  generally  injured  their 
spiritual  enjoyments.  One  class,  however,  I  never 
would  baptize.  I  mean  those  who  were  Baptists, —  f 
that  is,  believe  that  immersion  was  the  only  mode, 
or  the  only  true  baptism.  Such  I  either  convinced 
to  the  contrary,  or  advised  to  join  the  Baptists.  My 
reasons  for  this  course  must  be  obvious.  We,  as 
Methodists,  believe  baptism  to  be  the  door  of  admis- 
sion into  the  visible  church,  and  that  no  person  has  a 


5S  FAREWELL    LETTER 

right  to  partake  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per who  has  not  been  baptized,  it  being  a  privilege 
belonging  exclusively  to  members  of  the  visible 
hurch.  Hence  I  always  thought  the  Baptists  con- 
lstent  in  what  is  called  close  communion.  They 
believe  that  baptized  Christians  have  a  right  to  the 
communion,  and  none  but  such  ;  and  so  also  do  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  believe.  The  only 
difference  is,  that  the  latter  recognizes  sprinkling 
equally  valid  as  baptism  with  immersion,  while  the 
former  contends  that  immersion  is  the  only  baptism, 
or  in  other  words,  that  sprinkling  or  pouring  is  no 
baptism. 

It  happened,  a  little  more  than  two  months  ago, 
that  several  persons  belonging  to  my  congregation 
desired  to  be  immersed.  I  could  not  refuse  them, 
though  I  resolved  not  to  immerse  them  myself. — 
Accordingly  I  engaged  a  brother  in  the  ministry  to 
officiate  for  me.  To  confess  the  whole  truth,  I  felt 
rather  vexed  than  pleased.  The  weather  was  cold, 
and  I  thought  it  presumptuous  to  go  into  the  river 
under  such  circumstances.  There  were  eight  can- 
didates, all  females;  one  of  whom  was  very  feeble 
in  health,  and  I  was  requested  to  reserve  her  for  the 
last,  which  request  I  readily  complied  with. 

Suffice  it  to  say,  they  went  down  into  the  water 
one  by  one,  and  came  straightway  up  out  of  the 
water,  while  I  stood  upon  the  shore  a  silent  specta- 
tor. Soon,  however,  the  scene  began  to  melt  my 
heart,  and  something  seemed  to  kindly  whisper,  this 


TO    MY    LATE     CHARGE.  59 

is  the  way  to  follow  Jesus.  I  felt  that  Jesus  was 
present  to  own  and  sanction  his  ordinance.  That 
Spirit  that  descended  upon  him  at  his  baptism  in  the 
river  Jordan,  appeared  to  be  hovering  over  us,  and 
to  nhange  the  whole  aspect  of  the  occasion  in  my 
mind  to  one  of  the  most  intense  interest  and  delight. 
At  length  the  last  subject  came  ;  that  feeble  young 
woman  went  down  into  the  water,  and  to  my  sur- 
prise she  came  up  out  of  the  water  praising  God. — 
And  every  step  to  the  shore  she  repeated  her  praises, 
declaring  that  the  water  was  not  cold,  though  the  ice 
was  swimming  all  around  her.  So  warm  was  her 
heart  with  the  love  of  God,  that  she  was  unconscious 
of  the  cold.  My  heart  was  humbled,  and  I  felt  to 
mingle  my  tears  of  gratitude  with  hers.  The  im- 
pressions made  upon  my  heart  that  morning,  I  trust 
will  continue  while  memory  endures. 

I  went  home  and  confessed  to  my  family  that  I 
had  spoken  unadvisedly  about  the  solemn  and  inter- 
esting ordinance  of  immersion,  and  in  my  heart  re- 
solved never  to  do  so  again.  Moreover  I  determined 
ts  examine  more  fully  than  ever  I  had  done,  the 
claims  of  the  Baptists,  thinking  that  by  so  doing  my 
prejudices  might  become  permanently  softened,  and 
my  feelings  more  charitable  towards  them.  Little 
did  I  think  that  such  a  result  would  follow  as  the 
sequel  will  show. 

In  the  prosecution  of  this  work,  my  Bible  was  my 
text-book,  my  only  authority.  I  read  the  arguments 
of  the  Baptists, — the  arguments  of  Pe do-baptists  T 


60  FAREWELL     LETTER 

abeady  understood.  I  therefore  endeavored  to 
weigh  each  on  both  sides,  in  the  balances  of  divine 
truth.  I  think  I  was  honest,  and  I  am  sure  I  ear- 
nestly prayed  to  be  guided  into  the  truth.  I  had  not 
pursued  the  examination  very  far  before  I  became 
convinced,  and  as  I  advanced,  those  convictions  in- 
creased, till  at  last,  I  was  fully  cpnverted  to  the 
views  which  are  entertained  by  the  Baptist  church 
on  these  points,  by  which  they  are  distinguished  as 
such.  Or,  in  other  words,  I  found  myself  in  doc- 
trine, a  Baptist.  I  went  over  the  ground  again,  and 
again,  and  came  every  time  precisely  to  the  same 
conclusions  :  viz.  That  there  was  no  divine  war- 
rant for  infant  baptism  in  the  word  of  God,  and  no 
evidence  of  its  being  an  institution  of  the  gospel — 
that  believers  alone,  are  the  proper  subjects  of  that 
holy  ordinance. 

I  also  came  to  the  conclusion,  that  sprinkling  or 
pouring  is  an  unscriptural  mode  of  administering 
baptism,  for  which  we  have  neither  precept,  nor  ex 
ample,  nor  the  most  remote  inference  in  the  New 
Testament.  And  that  immersion  being  sanctioned 
by  precept  and  example,  is  baptism.  In  short,  that 
there  is  no  baptism  without  it.  Of  course  my  opin- 
ion must  be,  that  those  who  are  sprinkled  are  not 
baptized — and  as  unbaptized  persons  have  no  right 
to  the  communion,  none  but  such  as  are  immersed 
ought  to  commune  together. 

With  these  views,  my  congregation  will  plainly 
6ee  that  I  could  not  remain  in  the  Methodist  church, 
and  be  an  honest  man.     I  could  not  baptize  infants. 


TO     MY     LATE     CHARGE.  G  1 

or  sprinkle  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  by  his  au- 
thority, when  I  felt  perfectly  satisfied  that  He  never 
gave  authority  to  do  it.  Nor  could  I  virtually  allow 
the  validity  of  sprinkling  or  infant  baptism,  by  an 
admission  of  such  to  the  table  of  the  Lord. 

As,  therefore,  I  must  give  an  account  of  myself  to 
God,  so  must  I  act  for  myself.  Honor,  duty,  consis- 
tencv,  religion,  require  me  to  resign  my  pastoral 
charge  over  this  church  and  congregation.  I  have 
served  you  as  long  as  I  could  discharge,  with  fidelity, 
the  duties  imposed  upon  me  by  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  I  leave  you  with  no  unkind  feelings. 
JSo.  The  members  of  this  church  and  congregation 
have  always  treated  me  in  the  most  gentlemanly  and 
Christian-like  manner.  For  all  your  kind  attentions 
to  me  and  mine,  during  my  ministration  among  you, 
you  have  my  sincere  and  hearty  thanks.  I  shall 
always  feel  an  interest  for  you,  and  not  cease  to  pray 
that  God  may  be  with  you,  and  bless  you. 

You  all  know  that  I  have  not  sought  to  proselyte 
any  to  my  new  views.  I  have  cautiously  concealed 
all  my  thoughts  from  you  with  regard  to  this  sub- 
ject. I  do  not  wish  to  divide  or  injure  the  church 
for  whose  spiritual  welfare  I  have  labored  as  their 
pastor.  1  love  them  no  less  now  than  ever.  My 
advice  to  you  is — "  Be  of  one  mind  ;  live  in  peace  ; 
and  the  God  of  love  and  peace  be  with  you  and 
bless  you."  Commit  your  cause  into  His  hands. — 
44  Give  to  the  winds  your  fears."  while  yon  put 
your  trust  in  God.  And  I  trust  that  God  will  send 
you  a  faithful  pastoi,  who  will  edify  and  build  you 


62  FAREWELL     LETTER 

up.  I  am  soon  to  take  up  my  lot  and  inheritance 
with  another  tribe  of  our  common  Israel,  and  the 
recollection  that  we  belong  to  the  same  common 
family,  will  always  afford  me  no  small  degree  of 
pleasure.  And  finally,  the  hope  of  meeting  in  that 
bright  world  of  light  and  glory,  where  we  shall  see 
truth  without  error,  and  forever  bask  in  its  sunshine, 
is  most  cheering  and  delightful  in  the  prospect. — 
There  I  hope  to  meet  you  and  the  many  thousands 
of  the  tribe  of  our  Israel  with  whom  I  have  been  as- 
sociated for  more  than  twenty  of  the  last  years  of 
my  life. 

Allow  me  to  say,  in  conclusion,  that  the  step  which 
I  am  now  taking,  is  guided  by  principle.  Had  I 
one  doubt  as  to  its  propriety,  I  would  hesitate  ;  but 
1  have  not.  My  mind  is  clear.  I  think  I  know  my 
■  duty,  and  I  shall  cheerfully  perform  it.  I  am  aware 
many  may  impugn  my  motives,  and  censure  me  for 
*  so  doing  ;  but  if  they  do,  I  shall  still  pray  for  them. 
1  am  sure  of  one  thing,  and  that  is,  those  who  know 
me  best  will  give  me  credit  for  moral  honesty ;  and 
those  who  do  not  know  the  facts  as  they  are,  but 
ileal  in  wholesale  censure,  as  may  be  the  case,  will 
do  it  ignorantly,  and  I  hope  to  put  the  most  charita- 
ble construction  upon  what  they  may  say.  I  know 
the  power  of  prejudice,  and  that  man\r  good  men 
have  much  of  it  about  them.  Sad  experience  has 
taught  me  that  lesson.  I  shall  therefore  remember 
the  simple  couplet, — 

"  That  mercy  I  to  others  show, 
That  mercy  show  to  me." 


TO    MY    LATE     CHARGE.  63 

I  love  the  Methodist  church.  I  love  her  for  her 
simplicity — for  her  zeal — for  her  unity  of  evangelical 
faith — for  her  experimental  and  practical  piety.  1 
love  her  for  her  revival  spirit — for  her  zeal  in  the 
missionary  cause — for  her  activity  in  every  religious 
and  benevolent  enterprise.  I  love  her  for  her  insti- 
tutions by  which  to  fan  up  the  flame  of  vital  godli- 
ness in  the  church,  and  to  keep  her  membership 
alive  to  God.  Why  should  I  not  love  her? — she 
has  been  a  mother  to  me.  She  took  me  in  youth 
and  inexperience,  and  bore  with  my  ignorance  and 
mistakes.  She  has  carried  me  in  her  arms,  and 
always  treated  me  with  the  utmost  kindness  and 
tenderness.  Under  God,  I  owe  much  to  her  instruc- 
tion, forbearance,  and  fostering  care.  I  leave  her 
communion  with  deep  emotion — I  leave  her  minis- 
try with  feelings  unutterable  ;  for  there  are  hundreds 
in  her  self-sacrificing  ministry,  to  whom  my  heart 
has  been  wedded  by  many  a  "tie  that  binds  our 
hearts  in  Christian  love."  But  duty  directs  — I 
must  obey.  My  compliance  is  cheerful  and  volun- 
tary. I  leave  a  flourishing  church  to  go  to  another 
equally  so  ;  and  remember  this  is  my  last  prayer 
while  within  the  walls  of  the  M.  E.  church,  "  Peace 
be  within  thy  walls,  and  prosperity  within  thy  pal- 
aces. " 

S.  REMINGTON. 
Lowell,  Feb.  8,  1848. 


Pedobaptists  not  Open  Commiinionists. 
A 

DEFENCE 

OF 

RESTRICTED  COMMUNION, 

ftraisrir  unit  <£nlnrgilt : 

WITH 

AN  APPENDIX  ON  THE  NATURE  OF  A  GOSPEL  CHURCH. 

BY  REV.  S.  REMINGTON,  A.  ML, 

^TOR  OF  THE  THIRD  BAPTIST  CHCRCH,  PHILADELPHIA 

.u'lHui:  ok  "Reasons  for  becoming  a  Baptist." 
Pfi!LAl)£LPB  I  A : 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

630  ARCH  STREET. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


Twr.N"TT-oxE  thousand  copies  of  this  little  work  have 
been  already  circulated  iu  its  original  form,  and  the 
evidences  of  its  usefulness  are  abundant.  As  the  demand 
for  it  is  steadily  increasing,  it  has  been  thoroughly  revised 
bj  the  Author,  enriched  witjb  several  important  additions, 
and  enlarged  by  a  valuable  Appendix  on  the  Nature  of  a 
Regular  Gospel  Church.  Thus  improved,  it  has  been 
stereotyped  anew  by  the  American  Baptist  Publication 
Society;  and  although  enlarged  more  than  one  fourth,  it 
is  still  soil  at  the  original  price  of  six  cents  a  copy, 
to  encourage  its  wider  circulation  and  more  extensive 
usefulness. 

The  Author's  preceding  work,  "  Reasons  for  becoming 
a  Baptist,"  of  which  32,00P  copies  have  been  printed. 
has  recently  been  translated  into  the  French  and  German  ; 
and  this  work  also  is  demanded,  and  will  soon  be  issued 
in  the  German  language.  Together  or  apart,  they  present 
very  concise  and  correct  views  of  the  scriptural  practice 
of  Baptist  churches  in  regard  to  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper — the  very  vieAvs  by  which  the  Author  himself  was 
convinced,  and  which,  by  the  Divine  blessing,  have  been 
successful  in  convincing  many  others.  J.  BJ.  d. 

Philadelphia,     ) 
August    10,    1852.  J 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  y«ar  1852,  by  the 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  i 
for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


PREFACE 


Theue  is  nothing  that  is  considered  peculiar  to  the  Baptist 
denomination,  which  its  ministers  and  members  have  to  meet 
8o  frequently,  ns  the  charge  of  "close  communion."  We  often 
hear  this  phrase  pronounced  in  a  satirical  tone,  and  with  an 
air  of  contempt,  which  seems  to  imply  that  we  arrogate  to  our- 
selves a  peculiar  sanctity,  as  if  we  said  to  our  brethren  of 
other  churches — "  Stand  off,  I  am  more  holy  than  thou." 

The  writer  of  the  following  Treatise  has  been  a  minister  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  nearly  a  score  of  years  ; 
and  having  been  stationed  during  that  time  in  eight  different 
cities,  besides  country  villages  and  towns,  (and  a  member  of 
three  different  Annual  Conferences,)  his  acquaintance  with 
the  ministry  and  membership  of  that  church  is  very  exten- 
sive. 

Although  he  dissolved  his  connection  with  that  church 
because  of  a  change  of  theological  views,  as  the  little  work 
which  he  published,  entitled,  "Reasons  for  becoming  a 
Baptist/'  will  show,  and  not  because  he  was  disaffected  to- 
ward nis  brethren ;  yet  has  he  had  to  meet  at  almost  every 
turn,  where  he  has  met  them,  the  popular  charge  of  contracted- 
ness  in  Christian  charity.  "Will  you  eat  and  drink  with  us  ?* 
is  a  question  of  almost  every  day  occurrence,  accompanied 
sometimes  with — "  I  don't  like  the  Baptists,  because  of  their 
close  communion." 

To  such  interrogations  and  declarations,  the  writer,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  would  be  expected  to  reply,  which  he'  has 


4  PREFACE. 

done  to  such  as  he  believed  would  listen  with  candor;  and  en 
deavored  to  show  that  Baptists,  in  this  matter,  are  actuated 
by  principle,  and  not  by  prejudice,  bigotry,  or  a  want  of  Chris- 
tian affection  toward  tho  disciples  of  Christ,  of  whatever  name 
or  denomination. 

But  'still  he  felt  the  want  of  a  work  directly  in  point,  to 
meet  such  objectors.  For  certain  is  he,  that  multitudes  are 
kept  from  uniting  with  Baptist  churches,  by  misunderstanding 
this  question.  Booth,  Howell,  Cone,  Andrew  Fuller,  6.  F. 
Davis,  and  others,  have  written  ably  upon  this  subject;  (and 
he  would  commend  their  works  to  the  perusal  of  all  inquirers 
after  truth;)  still  they  are  either  too  large  or  too  small  exactly 
to  meet  the  thing  at  which  he  has  been  aiming.  He  there- 
fore feels  that  if  he  can  so  far  awaken  inquiry  on  this  subject, 
as  to  lead  our  Pedobaptist  brethren  to  read  those  works,  he 
has  not  labored  in  vain. 

What  seemed  to  the  writer  of  these  sheets  to  be  at  this  time 
most  needed,  was  a  work  that  would  tend  to  silence  this  cla- 
mor of  Pedobaptists,  by  showing  that  they  themselves  are  not 
open  communionists,  and  that  it  is  not  possible  for  them  to  be 
so  and  maintain  church  order  and  discipline  ;  also,  at  the  same 
time,  to  vindicate  Baptists  as  being  scriptural  in  their  prac- 
tice of  restricted  communion,  and  not  thereby  justly  liable  to 
the  charge  of  bigotry. 

How  far  he  has  accomplished  this  object,  the  reader  must  be 
the  judge.  To  his  candid  and  prayerful  consideration  are  the 
thoughts  spread  out  upon  the  following  pages  commended,  with 
sincere  and  earnest  prayer  to  God  that  the  reader  and  writer 
may  be  guided  into  all  truth. 

S.  REMINGTON. 

New  York,  August  10,  18-17. 


A  DEFENCE 


RESTRICTED   COMMUNION, 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE    POINT    EXPLAINED. 

Close  COMMUNION  is  the  popular  phrase  used 
by  Pedobaptists,  by  which  they  designate  what  they 
deem  the  peculiar  views  and  practice  of  the  Bap- 
tists with  regard  to  the  proper  recipients  of  the 
Lord's  Supper. 

It  is,  however,  an  important  question,  whether 
the  phrase  is  justifiable — whether  it  does  not  imply- 
more  than  is  really  intended  and  properly  inferred 
from  the  practice  of  the  churches  to  which  it  is 
applied. 

If  it  necessarily  means  Christian  communioc 
only  with  the  members  of  Baptist  churches  wh  . 
adopt  the  principles  which  give  rise  to  it,  thou 
certainly  we  ought  to  disclaim  it;  inasmuch  as  Wr 
rejoice  to  believe  that  there  are  genuine  Christians 
in  all  the  evangelical  churches,  for  whom  we  not 
only  entertain  the  highest  respect,  but  sincere  Chris* 
tiau  aiFection  and  fellowship. 

1*  (5) 


6  REMINGTON 

The  question,  then,  may  be  asked,  "Why  not 
commune  together  at  the  Lord's  Table  V  This 
question  is  by  no  means  novel;  and  to  the  minds 
of  many,  who  may  not  have  carefully  examined  the 
principles  on  which  Baptists  ground  their  practice 
in  this  particular,  it  may  appear  to  imply  an  incon- 
sistency, irreconcilable  with  our  professions  of 
Christian  fellowship  for  all  the  lovers  of  the 
blessed  Jesus. 

In  the  examination  of  this  subject,  I  may  be 

permitted  to  inquire,  whose  fault  is  it  that  we  do 

not  sit  down  together  at  the  same  Table  ?    Is  it  the 

unit  of  the  Baptist  churches,  or  is  it  the  fault  of 

le  Pedobaptists  ? 

In  view  of  this  question,  I  shall  state  some  of 

he  prominent  points  upon  which  we  agree,  and  one 

.n  particular  upon  which  we  differ, — and  which  one 

constitutes  the  barrier  to  the  fellowship  enjoyed  by 

churches  in  the  communion  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

1.  We  agree  that  Baptism  is  an  institution  of 
Christ ;  that  it  is  a  duty  enjoined  upon  all  Christians 
to  be  baptized ;  and,  though  it  be  not  a  saving  or- 
dinance, yet  it  cannot  be  wilfully  omitted  without 

iisobedience  to  the  requirements  of  the  gospel. 

2.  We  agree  that  it  is  th$  visible  line  of  distinc- 
rion  between  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  this  world, 
and  consequently  that  it  is  the  door  of  admission 
into  the  visible  church  of  Jesus  Christ. 

3.  We  agree  that  it  is  one  of  the  essential  requi- 
sites of  an  admission  to  the  Lord's  Table,  and  that 
none,  however  pious,  ought  to  be  permitted  to  enjoy 
this  holy  ordinance  previous  to  a  compliance  with 
this  Christian  rite. 

These  points  of  agreement  are  so  obvious,  that  it 


ON    COMMUNION.  I 

would  appear  to  be  needless  for  me  to  quote  authori- 
ties by  which  to  prove  them.  It  would  seem  to  be 
time  enough  to  do  this,  when  it  is  affirmed  to  the 
contrary.  The  fact  is,  that  the  practice  of  all  the 
Pedobaptist  churches  is  founded  upon  the  admission 
of  this  principle  :  none  are  admitted  to  the  Lord's 
Tabic  until  they  become  members  of  a  Christian 
church,  and  none  are  recognized  members  of  a 
Christian  church  without  having  been  first  baptized. 

This  is  as  it  should  be ;  and  this  practice  is  sanc- 
tioned by  the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  We  there 
learn  that  Baptism  was  instituted  before  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and  that  it  was  the  invariable "  practice  of 
the  inspired  apostles  to  baptize  all  believers  before 
they  admitted  them  to  the  Lord's  Table,  and  that 
to  this  practice  there  is  not  a  single  exception  on 
record.  For  proof,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
converts  of  Pentecost,  recorded  in  Acts  ii. ;  the 
Ethiopian  eunuch,  Acts  viii. ;  Lydiaand  her  house- 
hold, and  the  Jailor  and  his  household,  Acts  xvi. ; 
Cornelius  and  his  friends,  Acts  x. ;  and  that  of  Saul, 
Acts  ix.  These  were  all  baptized  as  soon  as  they 
believed,  and"  not  one  of  them  enjoyed  the  com- 
munion of  the  Lord's  Supper  until  after  they  had 
submitted  to  this  ordinance. 

Now  if  it  were  a  matter  of  indifference  whether 
they  were  baptized  or  not  before  they  partook  of 
the  communion,  we  should  naturally  look  for  s :  me 
examples.  Ananias  might  have  said  to  Saul,  "  Now, 
brother  Saul,  let  us  commemorate  the  sufferings  and 
death  of  the  blessed  Saviour;"  but  did  he?  No, 
He  said,  "  Arise  and  be  baptized."  Peter  might 
have  said  to  Cornelius  and  his  friends,  "  Can  any 
forbid  these  persons  ooming  to  the  Table  of  the 


8  REMINGTON 

Lord,  who  have  recei  red  the  Holy  Ghost  as  well  a? 
we?"  but  did  he  thus  address  theni  ?  No;  but  he 
said,  "  Can  any  forbid  water,  that  these  should  not 
be  baptized,  which  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost  as 
well  as  we  V  Paul  might  have  said  to  the  jailor, 
u  In  a  most  miraculous  manner  has  God  this  night 
interposed  and  converted  you  and  your  family  to 
himself,  and  let  us  now  eat  and  drink  together  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  as  a  token  of  oiir 
Christian  love  and  fellowship ;"  but  did  he?  Nay; 
he  baptized  "  him  and  all  his,  straightway." 

And  why  was  this  practice  so  invariable  f  Be- 
cause it  accorded  with  the  Commission  which  they 
received  from  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church,  Matt. 
xxviii.  19,  20,  and  Mark  xvi.  15,  16.  The  order 
of  this  Commission  is,  1.  Teach  men  the  gospel 
plan  of  salvation;  2.  Baptize  all  that  believe;  and 
3.  Then  "teach  them  to  observe  all  things  whatso- 
ever Christ  has  commanded  you."  Among  the 
commands  to  be  observed  after  baptism  is,  "  This 
do  in  remembrance  of  me."     , 

These  passages  set  forth  Baptism  as  a  divinely 
appointed  preliminary  to  the  Lord's  Supper;  which 
has  been  so  held  in  all  ages  since  the  days  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles,  by  all  orthodox  denominations. 

Mr.  Booth  says,  "  Before  the  grand  Romish 
apostasy,  in  the  very  depths  of  that  apostasy,  and 
since  the  Reformation,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
the  general  practice  has  been,  to  receive  none  but 
baptized  persons  to  communion  at  the  Lord's  Table." 
This  declaration  of  Mr.  B.  can  be  proved  by  an 
abundance  of  historical  data,  which  sets  the  ques- 
tion under  consideration  beyond  the  power  of  suc- 
cessful contradiction. 


ON    COMMUNION.  \) 

Justin-  Martyr,  A.  D.  150,  only  about  fifty 
years  after  the  death  of  the  apostle  John,  wheu 
speaking  on  this  very  subject,  remarks  :  "  This  food 
is  called  by  us  the  Eucharist,  of  which  it  is  not 
lawful  for  any  to  partake,  but  such  as  believe  the 
things  that  are  taught  by  us  to  be  true,  and  have 
been  baptized." 
•  Jerome,  A.  D.  400,  says  :  "  Catechumens  can- 
not  communicate  at  the  Lord's  Table,  being  unbap- 
tized." 

Augustine,  A.  D.  400,  speaking  of  administering 
the  Lord's  Supper  to  infants,  remarks,  "  Of  which 
certainly  they  cannot  partake  unless  they  are  bap- 
tized." 

Bede,  A.  D.  700,  narrates  the  following  incident 
"  Three  young  men,  princes  of  the  Eastern  Saxons 
seeing  a  Bishop  administer  the  sacred  supper,  do 
sired  to  partake  of  it  as  their  royal  father  had  done 
To  whom  the  Bishop  replied — If  you  will  be  bap 
tized  in  the  salutary  fountain  as  your  father  was 
yau  may  also  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper  as  he 
did;  but  if  you  despise  the  former,  ye  cannot  in 
any  wise  receive  the  latter." 

Theophylact,  A.  I).  1100,  testifies,  that  "  no 
unbaptized  person  partakes  of  the  Lord's  Supper." 

Bonayenture,  about  A.  D.  1200,  observes  : — 
"  Faith,  indeed,  is  necessary  to  all  the  sacraments, 
but  especially  to  the  reception  of  baptism,  because 
baptism  is  the  first  among  the  sacraments." 

F.  Spanheim,  who  flourished  about  A.  D.  1600, 
- — "  None  but  baptized  persons  are  admitted 
to  the  Lord's  Table." 

Lord  Chancellor  King,  A.  D.  1700,  says : 
"  Baptism  was  always  the  precedent  to  the  Lord's 


10  REMINGTON 

Supper ;  and  none  were  admitted  to  receive  the  Eu- 
charist till  they  were  baptized.  This  is  so  obvious 
to  every  man  that  it  needs  no  proof." 

To  further  show  that  this  doctrine,  which  is 
sanctioned  by  the  Apostolical  Fathers  and  the 
respectable  writers  quoted,  is  truly  apostolical,  we 
will  apply  the  celebrated  rule  of  Augustine  as 
translated  by  Dr.  Wall  : — "  What  the  whole  chur<4i 
through  all  the  world  does  practise,  and  yet  it  has 
not  been  instituted  by  councils,  but  has  always 
been  in  use,  is,  with  very  good  reason,  supposed  to 
have  been  settled  by  authority  of  the  Apostles." 
And  what  is  this  that  he  says  is  "  supposed  to  have 
been  settled  by  the  authority  of  the  Apostles?" 
Answer.  "  That  they  cannot  partake  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  unless  they  are  baptized."  Hence,  Dr 
Wall  boldly  states — uNo  church  ever  gave  the 
communion  to  any  persons  before  they  were  bap- 
tized.     Among  all  the  absurdities  that  ever 

WERE  HELD,  NONE  EVER  MAINTAINED  THAT  ANY 
PERSONS  SHOULD  PARTAKE  OF  THE  COMMUNION 
BEFORE    THEY    WERE   BAPTIZED." 

Dr.  AIanton's  testimony  is — "None  but  bap- 
tized persons  have  a  right  to  the  Lord's  Table." 

Dr.  Doddridge  says — "It  is  certain  that  Chris- 
tians in  general  have  always  been  spoken  of  by  the 
most  ancient  fathers  as  baptized  persons.  And  it 
is  also  certain  that,  as  far  as  our  knowledge  of 
primitive  antiquity  extends,,  no  unbaptized  person 
received  the  Lord's  Supper." 

Dr.  Dwight's  opinion,  in  connection  with  these 
decisive  testimonies,  is  entitled  to  great  weight. 
He  says — "  It  is  an  indispensable  qualification  for 
thia  ordinance,  that   the  candidate  for  communiou 


OX  COMMUNION.  11 

l»e  a  member  of  the  visible  church  of  Christ,   in 

full  standing.     By  this  I  intend,  that  he  should  be 
on  of  piety;    that  he    should    have  made  a 
public  profession  of  religion;   and  that  he  should 
have  been  baptized." 

T  will  conclude  this  chapter  with  an  c: 
from  Rev.  Robert  Hall,  who,  though  a  Baptist, 
Was  nevertheless  favorable  to  open  communion. 
He  says — "  Let  it  be  admitted  that  baptism  is, 
under  all  circumstances,  a  necessary  condition  of 
church-fellowship,  and  it  is  impossible  for  the 
Baptists  to  act  otherwise.  The  recollection  of  this 
may  suffice  to  rebut  the  ridicule,  and  silence  the 
clamor  of  those  who  loudly  condemn  the  Baptists 
for  a  proceeding  which,  were  they  but  to  change 
tneir  opinion  on  the  subject  of  baptism,  their  own 
principles  would  compel  them  to  adopt.  They  both 
concur  in  a  common  principle  from  which  the  prac- 
tice deemed  so  offensive  is  the  necessary  result. 
Considered  as  an  argumentum  ad  hominem,  or  an 
appeal  to  the  avowed  principles  of  our  opponents, 
this  reasoning  may  be  sufficient  to  shield  us  from 
that  severity  of  reproach  to  which  we  are  often 
exposed,  nor  ought  we  to  be  censured  for  acting 
upon  a   system   which   is  sanctioned  by  our  acta- 


*  In  his  "  Short  Statement,"'  Ac.     Hall's  Works,  vol. 
213. 


CHAPTER  H. 

THE    REAL   POINT    OF   DIFFERENCE. 

We  perceive  then,  that  this  view  of  the  subject 
is  coimnon  ground  for  both  Baptists  and  Pedobap- 
tists.  It  may  then  be  asked,  wherein  do  we  differ  ? 
Answer.  We  differ  as  to  what  constitutes  Christian 
Baptism.  The  argument  properly  turns  upon  bap- 
tism, and  not  upon  restricted  communion.  We  all 
agree  that  none  but  believers  who  have  been  bap- 
tized ought  to  be  allowed  to  commune.  The  point 
at  issue  is,  who  have  been  baptized?  Pedo- 
baptists  say  "all  infants  or  adult  believers  who 
have  been  immersed,  poured,  or  sprinkled."  The 
Baptists  say,  "  none  but  immersed  believers." 

If  the  argument,  then,  turn  upon  this  point, 
why  censure  the  Baptists  for  carrying  out  a  principle 
which  all  acknowledge  to  be  scriptural  ?  Why  not 
let  the  objection  be  directed  to  the  real  question  at 
issue  ?  Or,  in  other  words,  why  are  the  Pedobap- 
tists  always  harping  upon  this  string,  when  they 
themselves  constantly  carry  out  the  same  principle 
in  their  own  recognition  of  proper  subjects  of  the 


jommumon  t 


Some,  probably,  do  not  fully  understand  the 
ground  upon  which  Baptists  act  in  restricting  the 
Lord's  Supper  to  immersed  believers;  and  there- 

(12) 


VN    COMMUNION.  *3 

fore  think  them  exceedingly  bigoted  and  nairow  in 
their  Christian  charity. 

Others  who  understand  the  principle  upon  which 
Baptists  act  in  this  matter,  it  is  to  be  feared,  are 
tlit-niselves,  to  too  great  an  extent,  the  victims  of 
that  bigotry  which  they  so  unsparingly  charge  upon 
ua  ;  and  so  they  raise  the  cry  of  close  communion 
as  a  denominational  ruse,  by  which  to  represent  us 
in  a  light  repulsive  to  that  catholic  spirit  which 
should  characterize  every  true  Christian. 

"We  are  God's  children,"  say  they,  "  and  wo 
claim  the  right  as  such  to  sit  down  with  you  at  his 
cable  ;  but  you  cut  us  off  from  this  privilege  j  you 
lay  restrictions  upon  God's  table  which  the  Master 
will  not  sanction/'  And  all  this  is  said  by  those 
who  guard  the  Table  of  the  Lord  against  the  intru- 
sions of  all  unbaptized  persons. 

Again,  they  charge  us  with  robbing  them  of  their 
privilege  j  and  they  ask,  "  How  dare  you  rob  the 
dear  children  of  God  of  their  privilege  ?  In  reply, 
we  ask,  "  What  privilege  f"  Have  you  not  the 
Lord's  Supper  in  your  own  churches,  and  do  you 
not  enjoy  that  privilege  as  often  as  we  do  in  our 
Baptist  churches  ?  If  it  were  consistent  for  us  to 
invite  you  to  partake  with  us  at  the  Lord's  Table, 
how  often,  think  you,  would  this  privilege  be  en- 
joyed ?  How  often  do  the  different  denominations 
of  Pedobaptists  commune  with  each  other  ?  For 
more  than  twenty-five  years  I  was  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  never  for  once 
during  all  that  time  have  I  enjoyed  the  "privilege" 
of  communing  with  any  other  denomination.  It 
was  not  bigotry,  nor  a  want  of  opportunity  that 
prevented;  nor  did  I  for  once  think  to  reproach 
2 


14  REMINGTON 

myself  with  the  idea,  that  I  was  voluntarily  cutting 
myself  off  from  the  enjoyment  of  a  great  "  privi- 
lege," for  I  had  all  the  "privilege"  I  wanted  at 
home  in  my  own  church. 

A  few  weeks  ago,  in  conversation  with  a  preacher 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church;  the  following 
colloquy  took  place  between  us. 

Preacher.  "  I  wonder,  Brother  Remington,  how 
yui.  who  have  always  appeared  to  me  to  be  so 
liberal  towards  all  evangelical  denominations,  can 
subscribe  to  doctrines  or  views  b}'  which  you  are 
obliged  to  debar  your  brethren  of  other  churches 
the  privilege  of  eating  and  drinking  with  you." 

R.  "Let  me  ask  you,  my  brother,  how  long 
have  you  been  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church  V 

Preacher.   "  Over  twelve  years." 

R.  "  How  many  times  have  you  communed  with 
other  denominations  during  that  period  ?" 

Preacher.  "Let  me  think — upon  my  word  I 
must  confess — not  once." 

R.  "  What  a  privilege  !" 

Here  our  conversation  on  this  topic  ended.  This 
is  only  one  case  among  the  multitude;  and  yet  the 
unjust  cry  is  continued,  "  You  Baptists  rob  the 
children  of  God  of  their  privilege." 

Indeed,  in  these  days,  when  Christians  of  all 
denominations  are  favored  with  churches  and  ordi- 
nances to  suit  their  own  peculiar  views,  the  com- 
munion of  the  different  denominations  can  scarcely 
be  spoken  of  in  the  light  of  a  "  privilege."  And 
I  question  whether  it  is  so  viewed  by  our  Pedo- 
baptist*  brethren  when  they  seriously  and  candidly 
reflect  upon  it. 

Sectarian  zeal  frequently  carries  good  men  quite 


ON    COMMUNION.  L" 

loo  far,  and  trader  its  influence  they  often  say  and 
do  things  which,  with  a  little  reflection,  they  would 
-could  not  conscientiously  do.  "When  I  waa 
the  pastor  of  the  Bromfield  Street  M.  E.  Church, 
in  Boston,  the  Rev.  Mr.  R.,  a  member  of  the  New 
England  Conference,  visited  the  city  and  spent  the 
Sabbath.  He  went  to  one  of  the  Baptist  churches 
in  that  city  to  hear  the  Rev.  Mr. — ;  it  was  their 
ordinance  Sabbath,  and  he  remained  with  the 
church  at  the  communion,  when  as  he  informed 
me,  the  following  conversation,  as  near  as  I  can 
recollect  took  place  between  him  and  Mr.  C. 

R.  4iMy  name  is  R.  I  am  a  member  of  a 
Christian  church,  and  a  minister  of  the  gospel: 
will  you  permit  me  to  sit  down  with  you  and  your 
church  at  the  Lord's  Table?" 

0.  "Are  you  a  Baptist?" 

R.  "No,  sir.  I  am  a  Methodist,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  N.  E.  Conference  of  ministers;  and  I 
should  like,  if  agreeable,  to  commemorate  the  death 
and  sufferings  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  you.'' 

C.  "But,  my  brother,  you  must  be  baptized 
before  you  come  with  us  to  the  Lord's  Table; — 
and  you  know  our  principles,  that  we  consider  n<> 
baptism  valid  but  immersion." 

R.   '-True;  but  I  have  been  immersed." 

O.  "Let  me  inquire,  then,  my  brother,  do  you, 
both  by  precept  and  example,  sanction  immersion 
as  the  only  gospel  baptism?" 

R.  "0  no,  sir.  I  believe  that  a  valid  gospel 
baptism,  may  be  performed  by  either  sprinkling  or 
pouring." 

C.  "I  thought  so;  and  you  certainly  know  that, 
wiih  such  views  and  practice,  we  should  make  our- 


16  REMINGTON 

pelves  vory  inconsistent  to  admit  you  to  the  com- 
munion with  us." 

R.  "Brother  C,  this  is  a  hard  case." 

C.  "I  know  it.  Brother  R.,  but  the  remedy  is 
at  hand; — do  and  teach  the  commandments  of 
Christ,  and  we  shall  rejoice  to  welcome  you  at  his 
table." 

Brother  R.  went  away,  not  indeed  sorrowful,  for 
there  were  no  less  than  six  Methodist  churches  in 
that  city,  where  he  could,  if  he  had  desired  it,  have 
communed  that  day.  I  leave  the  reader  to  draw 
his  own  conclusions. 

"  It  is  a  hard  case,"  said  a  gentleman  while  lis- 
tening to  the  above  relation  from  Mr.  B.,  "a  hard 
case,  indeed,  to  shut  a  man  from  the  Lord's  table 
whom  we  believe  to  be  a  real  Christian."  And  in 
this  he  spoke  what  multitudes  of  others  have  said; 
but  they  have  said  it,  as  he  did,  more  from  impulse 
than  sober  reflection.  For  it  is  an  undeniable  fact 
that  Pedobaptists,  would  do  this  same  thing  for 
which  they  so  strongly  censure  us.  To  illustrate 
this,  I  will  give  the  substance  of  a  conversation 
which  took  place  between  an  old  and  respectable 
Methodist  brother  of  New  York,  and  myself  a  few 
weeks  ago.     I  will  call  him  Brother  L. 

L.  "  The  Methodist  Conference  is  now  in  session 
in  the  Allen  Street  Church,  and  a  great  many  of 
your  old  friends  are  there.  I  should  think  you 
would  want  to  see  them.  Have  you  been  there 
yet?" 

R.  "0  yes,  sir,  several  times;  and  I  was  much 
pleased  to  see  them,  and  gave  many  of  them  a  good 
hearty  shake  of  the  hand." 


ON    COMMUNION.  17 

L.  ""Do  von  still  believe  them  to  be  Christian.* 
and  Christian  ministers?" 

R.  "I  know  nothing  to  the  contrary;  and  I  am 
bound  bo  to  believe  until  I  do." 

L.   "  Should  you  have  communion  in  your  church 

during  the  session  of  the  Conference,  and   these 

dear  old  friends  and  brethren  of  yours  be  present, 

invite  them  to  sit  down  with  you  at  the 

table  of  the  Lord?" 

R.  "  Not  because  the.y  were  my  personal  friends, 
□  ministers  of  the  gospel.     There  are  three 
of  fellowship  among  Christians' — Christian, 
Ministerial,  and  Church  fellowship.     The  two  for- 
mer may  be  exercised  without  the  latter,  and  the 
latter  without  either  of  the  two  former.     I  may 
fellowship  you  as  a  Christian,  and  them  as  Christian 
ministers,   without  any  church  fellowship.     And. 
on  the  other  hand,  I  may  be  obliged  in  some  case-. 
lowship  persons  in  the  church  with  myself 
simply    as    members,    not    believing    them    to    be 
genuine  Christians." 

L.  "Then  I  understand  you  to  say,  that  you 
would  not  let  them  come  with  you  to  the  Lord's 
Table.  Bigotry!  bigotry!  bigotry!  How  un- 
charitable and  how  antichristian.  I  pity  you  for 
your  bigoted  notions  and  your  contracted  Christian 
charity." 

R.  i;  You  seem,  my  brother,  to  be  very  sincere, 
and  I  doubt  not  you  feel  a  strong  commiseration 
for  me.  Perhaps,  however,  I  may  relieve  your 
mind  a  little  if  you  will  answer  me  a  few  questions. 
Allow  me  to  ask,  do  you  believe  that  God  h; 
real  Christians  and  Christian  ministers  among  the 
Quakers,  who  were  never  baptized  at  all!'" 
3* 


18  REMINGTON 

L.  "0  yes,  many.  I  have  known  some  rea, 
converted  souls  among  that  people;  and  some  who 
were  excellent  preachers,  and  called  of  God,  ilk 
my  humble  opinion,  to  the  work  of  the  gospel 
ministry." 

R.  "  Should  any  of  these  gospel  ministers  hap- 
pen to  be  at  your  church  at  the  time  of  the  com- 
munion, and  should  ask  to  enjoy  the  privilege  of 
going  to  the  table  with  you,  would  the  Methodists 
let  them  enjoy  that  privilege?" 

L.  "I  suppose  not." 

R.  "  Why  not  ?  They  are  Christians  and  Chris- 
tian ministers.  And  is  it  possible  that  you  are  so 
bigoted — so  narrow  in  your  Christian  charity,  as 
not  to  eat  and  drink  with  ministers  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  just  because  they  are  Quakers  and  not 
Methodists  ?     *  Bigotry !  bigotry !  bigotry !'  " 

L.  "Why,  as  to  that,  Brother  R.,  you  know  the 
reason.  They  have  not  been  baptized,  and  it  is 
f  ontrary  to  the  usages  of  our  church  to  admit  per- 
sons to  the  Table  without  it." 

R.  *'  *So  it  seems,  then,  that  you  and  I  perfectly 
agree.  You  have  admitted  that  these  Quakers  are 
entitled  to  Christian  fellowship,  for  they  are  Chris 
tians — that  they  are  entitled  to  ministerial  fellow- 
ship, because  they  are  ministers  of  the  gospel;  but 
that  they  are  not  entitled  to  church  fellowship,  be- 
cause they  were  never  admitted  into  the  church  iu 
Christ's  appointed  way,  namely,  by  Christian  bap- 
tism. Now  can  you  blame  me  for  not  having 
church  fellowship  with  those  whom  I  do  not  believe 
have  any  more  obeyed  Christ  in  his  ordinance  than 
these  pious  Quakers  who  discard  baptism  alto- 
gether?" 


OX    COMMUNION.  19 

L.  "Well,  my  brother,  that  does  seem  to  pre- 
sent the  matter  to  my  mind  in  a  new  light.  If  yon 
are  right  about  baptism,  I  don't  know  as  you  are 
wrong  about  close  communion;  but  I  think  you 
n.ust  be  wrong  about  baptism." 

R.  "  I  think  the  fault  lies  in  your  refusal  to  sub- 
mit implicitly  to  the  example  and  precept  of  Christ, 
the  gospel  Lawgiver." 

Thus  ended  the  dialogue.  And  thus  it  always 
ends,  when  the  principle  which  guides  the  Baptists 
in  their  views  of  communion  is  traced  to  its  legiti- 
mate source. 

I  never  was  disposed  to  charge  upon  Baptists 
inconsistency  with  regard  to  this  practice  for  which 
they  are  so  much  and  so  severely  blamed.  1 
always  said  that  their  conclusions  were  correctly 
drawn  from  the  premises  which  they  laid  down 
If  they  were  right  as  to  their  views  of  baptism 
then  were  they  also  right  with  regard  to  what  is 
called  close  communion ;  and  I  acted  accordingly, 
as  the  following  incident  will  show. 

"When,  some  seven  years  ago,  I  was  the  pastor 
of  the  State  Street  M.  E.  Church,  Troy,  X.  Y.,  a 
young  convert  applied  to  me  for  baptism.  The 
following  colloquy  took  place  between  us. 

Young  Convert.  "I  have  called  to  see  you,  3Ir. 
R.,  to  tell  you  what  Grod  has  recently  done  for  my 
soul;  and  if  you  think  proper,  after  you  shall  hear 
my  story,  I  want  you  at  a  suitable  time  to  baptize 
me."  Here  she  related  her  Christian  experience, 
and  then  said,  "Now,  sir,  if  you  think  me  a  proper 
person  to  belong  to  the  church,  I  desire  you  to  im- 
merse me,  for  I  do  not  believe  that  either  sprinkling 
vr  pouring  is  baptism." 


10  REMINGTON 

it.  "What!  do  you  not  believe  in  sprinkling  or 
pouring  for  others,  if  not  for  yourself?  Do  you 
not  believe  that  either  mode  is  sufficient,  if  it  but 
answer  a  good  conscience  ?" 

Y.  Convert.  "No,  sir.  The  Bible  is  my  only 
guide,  and  I  cannot  see  any  other  baptism  but  im- 
mersion there.  I  read  in  -Matt.  iii.  16 — 'And 
Jesus,  when  he  was  baptized,  went  up  straightway 
out  of  the  water ;'  and  Mark  i.  9,  says  that  '  Jesus 
came  from  Nazareth  of  Galilee  and  was  baptized  of 
John  in  Jordan/  And  I  read  in  Acts  viii.  38, 
39,  'And  they  went  down  both  into  the  water, 
both  Philip  and  the  Eunuch  j  and  he  baptized  him. 
And  when  they  were  come  up  out  or  the  water, 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  caught  away  Philip,  that  the 
Eunuch  saw  him  no  more ;  and  he  went  on  his  way 
rejoicing/  I  also  read  in  Col.  ii.  12,  'Buried 
with  him  in  baptism;'  and  in  Rom.  vi.  4,  'There- 
fore we  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death ; 
that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by 
the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should 
walk  in  newness  of  life/  Here  I  have  the  ex- 
ample of  Christ — that  example  copied  by  Philip 
and  the  Eunuch — and  the  testimony  of  Paul;  for 
Paul  must  be  speaking  of  immersion ;  for  who  ever 
heard  of  any  person  being  buried  in  a  few  drops 
of  water.  I  can't  read  any  thing  about  sprinkling 
or  pouring  for  baptism  in  the  New  Testament ;  and 
i  therefore  must  believe  that  immersion  is  the 
only  true  Christian  baptism." 

JR.  "Well,  madam,  if  this  is  your  opinion  I 
cannot  baptize  you,  because  you  are  not  a  Metho- 
dist, but  a  Baptist." 

Y.  Convert.   "I  thought  I  was  a  Mclhodist.     I 


ON   COMMUNION.  21 

was  converted  among  them,  and  love  them;  but  I 
begin  to  think  that  you  are  right — that  1  am  a 
Baptist" 

R.  "  Let  me  explain,  my  young  friend,  so  that 
you  may  see  that  it  is  consistency  at  which  I  am 
aiming,  both  for  yourself  and  myself.  You  must 
already  perceive  the  inconsistency  of  your  being 
immersed,  in  our  church,  with  your  views.  We 
believe  that  baptism  is  a  prerequisite  to  the  Lord's 
Supper,  but  according  to  your  views  of  baptism  I 
myself  have  never  been  baptized,  for  I  have  only 
been  sprinkled,  and  that  is  also  the  fact  with  the 
majority  of  my  church.  How  could  you  commune 
with  an  unbaptized  minister  and  church  t" 

T.  Convert.  "But  don't  you  sometimes  im- 
merse ?" 

R.  " Certainly  I  do;  but  it  is  only  in  those 
eases  where  the  candidates  prefer  it  for  themselver 
but  believe  other  modes  equally  valid  to  such  as 
choose  them." 

Y.  Convert.  "Then  I  perceive  that  I  am  not  a 
Methodist.  I  will  take  your  advice  and  go  to  the 
Baptists." 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    TWO    SYSTEMS    COMPARED. 

In  surveying  this  entire  question  as  it  lies  be- 
tween Baptists  and  Pedobaptists,  I  am  obliged  to 
come  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  principal  differ- 
ence between  them  in  this  matter  is,  that  the  Bap- 
tists adhere  to  the  Bible  and  their  creed,  while  the 
Pedobaptists  discard  both  in  this  instance  for  the 
sake  of  open  communion. 

I  acknowledge  that  this  assertion  .seems  severe, 
but  only  a  glance  at  the  grounds  upon  which  it  is 
founded,  will  show  that  such  a  conclusion  is  drawn 
from  facts,  as  they  appear  in  the  premises. 

A  pious  Scotchman,  a  few  years  ago,  after  enu- 
merating all  the  different  sects  in  Scotland,  remarks, 
"Each  of  these  sects  is  close  communion  in  every 
ssnse  of  the  word.  The}T  never  partake  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  together;  they  all  say,  if  we  have 
reason  to  divide  into  different  sects  we  cannot  unite 
in  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  is  the  most  essential 
act  of  church  fellowship." 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  churches  of  Eng- 
land in  the  seventeenth  century,  in  the  days  of 
Baxter,  Charnock,  Palmer,  Saunders,  Longly,  Doo- 
little,  Henry,  Earl,  &c. 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  our  own  New  England 
(22) 


ON    COMMUNION.  23 

Pedobaptist  churches,  who,  in  1636,  by  force  of 
anus,  banished  Roger  Williams  from  Salem,  Mass., 
f.r  his  principles;  in  1639  fined  the  leading  men 
who  firmed  a  little  Baptist  interest  in  Weymouth 
from  20s.  to  £20  each  for  the  same  thing,  and 
them  with  perpetual  banishment  if  they 
ted.  Did  it  look  like  open  communion  in 
1644,  when  they  passed  a  law  in  Boston  to  banish 
all  who  openly  condemned  or  opposed  infant  bap- 
tism? In  1643  seven  men  were  tried,  convicted, 
condemned,  sent  to  prison,  and  put  in  irons  in  the 
city  of  Boston,  and  in  1644  were  banished  by  order 
of  the  general  court,  and  forbidden  to  return  under 
the  penalty  of  suffering  .death )  and  all  this  for  the 
dreadful  crime  of  being  Bojitists.  In  1644,  a  poor 
man  by  the  name  of  Painter,  in  Hingham,  near 
:,  was  condemned,  tied  up  and  whipped,  and 
for  what?  because  he  turned  Baptist  and  refused 
to  have  his  child  sprinkled.     In  1651,  three  Bap- 

aen  in  Lynn,  a  few  miles  east  of  B 
were  arrested  while  one  was  preaching  on  Lord's  day, 
and  sent  to  prison  in  Boston,  where  they  lay  two 
weeks,  and  were  fined — one  £30,  one  £20,  and  one 
£5,  and  sentenced  to  be  publicly  whipped  if  they 
refused  to  pay.  How  one  got  out,  history  inform? 
us  not ;  but  of  the  other  two  we  are  informed  that 
the  fine  of  one  was  paid  and  that  the  other,  Mr. 
Holmes,  was  cruelly  whipped.  Two  men  who  were 
standing  by,  and  witnessing  this  bloody  scene, 
showed  some  signs  of  sympathy,  which  led  the 
Pedobaptists  to  suspect  them  of  being  Baptists,  and 
they  were  accordingly  arrested,  and  each  sentenced 
to  pay  40s.  and  to  be  publicly  whipped. 

The  poor  Baptists,  after   enduring  the  most  re- 


24  REMINGTON 

lentless  persecution,  succeeded  in  building  a  church 
in  Boston.  But  the  Pedobaptists  shut  it  up  in 
1680,  and  posted  the  following  note  upon  the  door : 
"  All  persons  are  to  take  notice,  that  by  order  of  the 
court,  the  doors  of  this  house  are  shut  up ;  and 
that  they  are  inhibited  to  hold  any  meeting,  or  to 
open  the  doors  thereof  without  license  from  au- 
thority, till  the  general  court  take  further  order, 
as  .they  will  answer  the  contrary  at  their  peril. 

."  Dated  at  Boston,  8th  March,  1680. 

"Edward  Rawson,  Secretary." 

Between  the  years  1727  and  1733,  there  were 
twenty-eight  Baptists,  two  Quakers,  and  two  Epis- 
copalians imprisoned  at  Bristol,  Mass.,  (now  R.  I.) 
for  Congregationalist  ministers'  tax.  In  1770, 
about  four  hundred  acres  of  land,  belonging  to  the 
members  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Ashfield,  were 
sold  at  auction  by  order  of  the  Court,  to  pay  the 
Congregational  minister  tax.  "Nay,  they  sold  their 
dead ;  for  they  sold  their  grave-yard.  The  orthodox 
minister  was  one  of  the  purchasers."  (See  Minutes 
of  the  Philadelphia  Association,  page  116.) 

In  1658,  the  court  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  made 
a  law  prohibiting  all  conversation  of  the  common 
people  with  any  of  those  heretics,  such  as  Quakers, 
Baptists,  &c,  and  all  persons  from  giving  them  any 
entertainment  on  the  penalty  of  £5. 

It  is  indeed  painful  to  refer  to  such  historical 
facts ;  but  I  do  it  that  we  may  be  able  to  test  the 
practical  influence  of  the  doctrine  which  we  are  de- 
fending. We  are  charged  with  being  bigoted  and 
narrow,  and  confined  in  our  Christian  charities,  and 
that  all  this  grows  out  of  our  close  communion. 
But  what  are  the  facts  ?     What  do  the  facts  which 


OX   COMMUNION.  2c 

I  have  just  noted  say  in  behalf  of  the  Pedobaptists 
of  America  in  the  seventeenth,  and,  I  might  have 
added,  the  eighteenth  century  also.  Are  we  not 
under  the  painful  necessity  of  not  only  charging 
them  with  bigotry,  but,  in  too  many  instances,  with 
intolerance  f  Religious  intolerance  never  exists 
without  bigotry,  and  bigotry  never  exists  without 
i<  ratering  a  spirit  which  would  lead  to  the  same  un- 
happy  results.  Any  system  of  religion,  therefore, 
which  in  its  practical  influence  would  lead  us  to  per- 
bct-ute  those  who  are  of  a  different  opinion  with 
ourselves,  or  would  preclude  Christian  fellowship 
with  those  who  are  right  in  the  fundamentals  of  re- 
ligion, and  have  passed  from  death  unto  life,  and 
become  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ,  just,  because  they  differ  from  us  in  some 
things  not  absolutely  necessary  to  salvation,  must 
be  wrong,  radically  wrong.  Such  is  the  connection 
between  cause  and  effect,  that  we  may  always  look 
for  the  latter  to  follow  the  former  so  far  as  the 
cause  is  permitted  to  operate  unobstructed  by  differ- 
ent circumstances. 

If  restricted  communion  have  a  tendency  to  make 
us  bigoted  and  uncharitable  toward  Christians  who 
differ  from  us  in  opinion,  then  we  might  look  for 
religious  intolerance  and  persecution  in  some  form, 
either  in  spirit  or  practice,  to  mark  the  history  of 
the  Baptist  denomination.  But  you  may  trace  the 
history  of  the  denomination  from  the  days  of  John 
the  Baptist  to  the  present  time,  and  you  will  find 
that  all  the  blood  that  has  ever  been  shed  on  ac- 
count of  Baptists,  has  been  shed  by  the  cruelty  of 
their  persecutors,  and  flowed  from  the  veins  of  Bap- 
tists themselves.  Whatever  imperfections  have 
3 


~6  REMINGTON 

marked  their  history — whatever  zeal  untempered 
by  knowledge,  or  whatever  enthusiasm  may  have 
Beked  their  ranks,  at  any  period,  they  cannot  be 
charged  by  their  most  virulent  enemies  with  ever 
having  been  a  persecuting  people.* 

It  is  true,  great  moral  tenacity  has  marked  their 
history;  which,  while  it  has  also  marked  their  in- 
tegrity, has  nevertheless  brought  down  upon  them 
severe,  and,  at  times,  unmitigated  persecutions 
from  other  Christian  denominations.  But  this 
tenacity  by  which  they  have  been  distinguished, 
and  for  which  they  have  suffered  so  much  calumny 
and  violent  persecution,  has  been  for  the  Bible — 
the  pure  and  unaltered  Word  of  God  in  all  it  com- 
municates for  the  faith,  and  practice  of  mankind ; 
and  that,  too,  irrespective  of  popular  opinions  and 
influence.  They  contend  for  that  liberty  which 
allows  every  man  to  read,  think,  and  decide  for 
himself  as  to  the  duties  and  privileges  set  forth  in 
God's  revelation  to  the  world.     They  contend  that 


*  A  gentleman  put  into  my  hand,  a  few  days  ago,  an  extract 
which  he  made  a  short  time  since,  when  in  Providence,  R.  I., 
from  the  City  Directory.  It  will  he  remembered  that  this  is 
the  place  in  which  Roger  "Williams  took  refuge  when  banished 
by  the  Pedobaptists  from  Massachusetts,  in  1636..  for  his  prin- 
ciples of  religious  liberty  which  were  regarded  as  Baptistieal. 
It  goes  to  substantiate  the  fact  that  Baptists  have  not  been 
persecutors,  when  they  in  their  turn  have  had  it  in  their  power 
to  banish  those  who  differed  from  them  in  their  religious  views. 
We  give  to  the  reader  the  extract,  and  let  it  speak  for  itself.- — 
"  1658.  The  town,  though  strongly  urged  by  the  Commissioners 
of  the  United  Colonies,  steadfastly  refused  to  banish  such 
Quakers  as  were  here,  or  to  prohibit  others  from  coming,  and 
consequently  became  a  City  of  Refuge  to  that  persecuted  peo- 
ple." The  reader  will  observe  that  this  was  twenty-two  years 
fcler  the  liinudinicnt  of  Roger  Williams  from  Massachusetts. 


ON    COMMUNION.  '2  t 

we  should  both  do  and  teach  the  commanding  rs  of 
Christ  as  Christ  himself  hath  said,  and  not  ab  inau 
They  contend  that  the  duties  and  ordinances 
of  the  gospel  are  to  be  observed  as  Christ,  the  great 
of  the  Church  has  directed,  and  not  as  the 
Councils  of  the  Church  may  decree.  In  short,  they 
contend  that  conscience  is  no  safe  guide  in  any  of 
these  things,  only  as  it  is  enlightened  by  the  word 
and  Spirit  of  God.  And  all  they  ask  of  the  whole 
Pedobaptist  world,  is  for  them  to  follow  their  ex- 
ample in  this  particular — be  willing  to  take  God's 
Holy  Word  as  it  may  be  literally  interpreted,  and 
as  the  best  authorities  do  construe  its  sacred  words, 
and  they  are  certain  that  it  would  not  be  long  be- 
fore the  whole  evangelical  church  would  say,  we 
have  "  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  Baptism/' 

One  other  thing  which  is  worthy  of  praise  must 
be  allowed  us,  and  that  is  consistency.  We  nei- 
ther believe  in,  nor  will  we  give  countenanc-e  to, 
infant  sprinkling ;  nor  allow  sprinkling  or  pouring 
to  be  Christian  baptism;  nor  will  we  admit  that 
any  unbaptized  person  has  a  right  to  commune. 
Here  we  stand  unflinchingly,  and  are  determined 
not  to  move  or  swerve  a  hair's  breadth.  If  we 
should,  we  would  be  inconsistent.  I  mvjld  say,  if 
we  should  depart  from  any  of  these  land-marks  we 
would  cease  to  be  Baptists. 

If  the  same  consistency  marked  the  Pedobaptisis 
with  regard  to  the  ordinances  of  Christ,  there  would 
be  hope  of  ultimately  ending  this  controversy.  It 
is  a  fact  which  all  our  Pedobaptist  ministers  and 
many  of  the  people  know,  that  in  their  churches 
there  are  multitudes  who,  but  for  certain  manceuver- 
ings  on  their  part,  would  have  been  Baptists.     And 


28  REMINGTON 

even  now  a  very  little  thing  would  so  far  wake  up 
this  subject  in  their  minds,  as  to  make  them  feel 
very  uncomfortable  in  their  connection  with  Pedo- 
baptist  churches.* 

Let  the  Pedobaptist  churches  enforce  their  re- 
spective disciplines,  and  require  their  members  to 
invariably  sanction  infant  baptism,  and  there  would 
be  such  afie  kindled  among  them  that  nothing  but 
immersion  would  quench  it.  They  would  drive 
their  members  off  to  Baptist  churches  by  hundreds 
if  not  by  thousands.  They  dare  not  do  this  thing  \ 
but  I  ask,  are  they  consistent  for  not  doing  it  ? 

Again,  I  know  of  many  ministers  of  the  gospel 
who,  notwithstanding  the  avowed  principles  of  the 
Pedobaptist  churches,  that  baptism  is  an  essential 
prerequisite  to  the  communion,  will  immerse  such 
as  have  been  sprinkled  in  infancy,  and  even  adult 
years,  rather  than  let  them  go  to  the  Bapfists.  Is 
not  this  inconsistent  ?  It  is  certainly  inconsistent 
with  established  usage,  not  to  say  the  plain  letter  and 
example  of  the  New  Testament;  and  it  is  virtually 
denying  the  validity  of  sprinkling  as  a  Gospel  ordi- 
nance. Such,  therefore,  lay  themselves  open  to 
the  charge  of  that  kind  of  inconsistency,  which 
shows  a  want  of  moral  honesty.  In  their  disciplines 
they  say  one  thing,  and  in  their  practice  they  do 
another,  by  which  they  contradict  their  own  pro- 
fessions, and  set  aside  their  declared  belief  to  the 
world.  This  certainly  is  the  most  charitable  view 
that  we  can  take  of  the  matter,  unless  they  contend 
that  it  is  proper  to  re-laptize,  or  in  other  words  to 


*  See   "A  Pedobaptist  Church  no  Home  for  a  Baptist.** 
Phila  ielphia  :  American  Baptist  Publication  Society. 


OX    COMMUNION.  29 

baptize  the  same  person  twice.  But  they  r.o  not 
thus  contend.  They  universally  hold,  that  baptism 
is  an  ordinance  which  is  to  be  administered  to  the 
same  person  but  once.  Yet  some  of  them,  to  my 
own  knowledge,  do  re-foaptize;  and  that,  too,  with 
impunity,  as  far  as  it  relates  to  any  censure  that 
may  come  upon  them  from  the  church  to  which 
they  belong.  They  say,  "we  believe  that  sprink- 
ling, pouring,  or  immersion,  is  either  of  them  valid 
Christian  baptism,  whether  administered  to  infants 
or  adult  believers."  But  the  young  convert  comes 
forward  and  says,  "I  am  not  satisfied  with  my 
infant  sprinkling;  I  want  you  to  immerse  me." 
"Well,"  says  the  minister,  "as  baptism  is  to  an- 
swer a  good  conscience  you  shall  be  accommodated." 
But,  I  ask,  what  does  the  minister  do  with  his  con- 
science in  baptizing  the  same  person  twice  ?  Again, 
the  more  matured  Christian  comes  forward  and 
says,  "  I  was  sprinkled  when  I  was  converted;  but 
I  have  examined  the  subject  more  minutely  since, 
and  am  not  satisfied.  I  think  the  Bible  teaches 
immersion  as  essential  to  the  right  administration 
of  this  ordinance,  and  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  be  thus 
baptized.  If  you  cannot  consistently  do  it,  I  shall 
go  to  the  Baptists.  I  do  not  desire  you  to  violate 
your  own  rules  on  my  account;  but  still  I  should 
like  to  remain  in  the  church  of  my  early  choice,  if 
I  can  follow  Christ  in  his  ordinance."  "Oh," 
says  the  preacher,  "my  brother,  you  need  give 
yourself  no  uneasiness  about  the  matter.  You 
shall  be  accommodated.  Your  own  conscience 
eliall  be  fully  satisfied.  I  will  baptize  yon  again." 
I  acknowledge  that  this  is  not  in  accordance  with 
established    usage    in    Pedobaptist    churches ;    but 

a* 


30  REMINGTON 

this  usage  is  departed  from  in  individual  cases.  I 
know  several  ministers  of  the  gospel,  one  of  whom 
was  in  1847  a  Presiding  Elder  of  a  District  in  the 
New  England  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  who  will  do  this  thing; — aye,  he  will 
go  further  than  this.  He  told  me,  that  "  under 
some  circumstances  he  would  be  willing  to  com- 
mune with  an  unbaptized  person."  This,  however, 
is  not  Methodism.  Yet  is  this  man,  with  his  de- 
clared views,  allowed  to  be  a  minister,  and  even 
hold  the  high  and  responsible  office  of  a  Presiding 
Elder  of  a  District  in  the  M.  E.  Church. 

It  has  been  questioned  whether  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  really  requires  baptism  as  a  pre- 
requisite to  the  communion,  or  church  membership. 
The  practice  of  some  of  her  ministers  seems  to  indi- 
cate that  she  does  not.  When  a  Presiding  Eider 
of  a  District  avows  that  he  would  not  object  to  im- 
merse such  as  had  been  sprinkled,  if  they  were 
dissatisfied  with  their  baptism,  and  that  he  would 
be  willing  to  commune  with  unbaptized  persons, 
will  be  very  proper  to  inquire  if,  in  this  particular, 
he  is  a  sound  Methodist.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  aver 
that  he  is  not,  nor  any  one  else  who  shall  advocate 
the  same  views.  To  determine  what  are  the  doc- 
trines or  discipline  of  any  Church,  we  must  not 
rely  upon  the  mere  statements  or  practice  of  iso- 
lated individuals.  They  may  not  be  orthodox  them- 
selves; and  therefore  it  would  be  unsafe  to  depend 
upon  them  for  an  exposition  of  the  peculiar  features 
of  the  denomination  to  which  they  belong.  To 
ascertain  what  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
really  believes,  or  requires  her  ministers  and  mem- 
bers to  believe  and  practise,  we  must  go  to  her 


ON   COMMUNION.  31 

Discipline  and  standard  writers.  To  these  there- 
tore  we  will  now  go,  for  the  purpose  of  deterniiuhig 
this  question]  viz. :  IVhat  do  they  teach  as  to  B<'p- 
tism  being  a  pre-requisite  to  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  Church  rut  ruber  si  lip? 

We  begin  with  their  Discipline,  the  last  edition, 
published  by  order  of  the  General  Conference  of  the 
M.  E  Church,  1850.  On  page  24,  section  2,  it 
is  asked — "  How  shall  we  prevent  improper  persons 
from  insinuating  themselves  into  the  Church  ?" — 
"Answer.  Let  none  be  received  into  the  Church 
until  they  are  recommended  by  a  leader  with  whom 
they  have  met  at  least  six  months  on  trial,  and 
have  been  lajjtized."  I  admit  that  probationers 
for  "full  membership"  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  may 
be  admitted  to  the  Table  of  the  Lord  with  them, 
providing  they  have  been  baptized,  and  not  without. 
To  this  agrees  their  general  invitation  on  commu- 
nion occasions,  as  on  page  106.  It  is  as  follows : 
"Ye  that  do  truly  and  earnestly  repent  of  your 
sins,  and  are  in  love  and  charity  with  your  neigh- 
bors, and  intend  to  lead  a  new  life,  following  the 
commandments  of  God,  and  walking  from  hence 
forth  in  his  holy  ways  ;  draw  near  with  faith  and 
take  this  holy  sacrament  to  your  comfort."  Bishop 
Hedding,  in  a  discourse  on  the  administration  of 
discipline,  which  he  delivered  before  the  New  York, 
Providence,  New  England,  and  Maine  Conferences, 
and  published  at  their  request,  states  that  there  are 
several  things  which  should  debar  a  minister  from 
giving  a  general  invitation  in  the  congregation  to 
members  in  good  standing  in  other  churches,  "  to 
come  to  the  Table  of  the  Lord."  Such  as,  "here- 
tical doct-ines,   immoral  practices"   any  jxractice 


32  REMINGTON 

which  would  exclude  a  member  from  their  com* 
munion,  or  non  membership  in  any  church.  We 
give  his  own  words,  (pages  72,  73,)  and  the  reader 
can  then  judge  for  himself.  "Is  it  proper,"  he 
asks,  "for  a  preacher  to  give  out  a  general  invita- 
tion in  the  congregation  to  members  in  good  stand- 
ing in  other  churches,  to  come  to  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per?" To  this,  the  bishop  gives  the  following 
answer:  "No;  for  the  most  unworthy  persons  are 
:-.pt  to  think  themselves  in  good  standing,  and 
sometimes  persons  who  are  not  members  of  any 
church,  will  take  the  liberty,  from  an  invitation, 
to  come.  And  again,  there  are  some  communities, 
called  churches,  which,  from  heretical  doctrines  or 
immoral  practices,  have  no  claim  to  the  privileges 
of  Christians,  and  ought  not  to  be  admitted  to  the 
communion  of  any  Christian  people."  The  rule, 
he  adds,  in  that  case,  is  as  follows:  "Let  no 
person  who  is  not  a  member  of  our  church  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  communion  without  examination,  ?.nd 
some  token  given,  by  an  elder  or  deacon.  No 
person  shall  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper 
::mong  us  who  is  guilty  of  any  practice  for  which 
we  would  exclude  a  member  of  our  Church." 
Discipline,  page  104.  Now  I  ask,  how  much 
further  than  the  above,  as  to  guarding  the  Lord's 
Table,  would  Baptists  desire  to  go? 

The  reader's  special  attention  is  invited  to  one 
very  important  item  in  this  quotation,  to  show  that 
in  the  opinion  of  the  Bishop,  non-membership  in 
any  church,  disqualifies  a  person  from  the  privilege 
of  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church.  The  preacher  is  advised  not 
to  give  a  general  invitation  in  the  congregation,  be- 


ON    COMMUNION.  33 

cause,  says  the  Bishop,  "  sometimes  persons  who 
arc  not  members  of  any  Church,  icill  take  the 
liberty,  from  on  Invitation,  to  come." 

In  these  authorities  we  clearly  perceive,  1.  That 
no  person  can  be  admitted  into  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  until  he  is  baptized.  2.  That  no  one 
can  be  admitted  to  the  communion  with  them,  who 
is  Qot  cither  a  baptized  member  on  probation,  or  in 
full  membership  in  their  church,  or  a  baptized 
believer  belonging  to,  and  in  good  standing  with 
some  other  church.  3.  The  conclusion  is  that  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  hold,  that  Baptism  is 
a  pre-requisite  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  the  door 
of  admission  into  the  church. 

The  quotation  of  one  more  authority  will  confirm 
the  above ;  and  it  is  good  authority.  The  book 
from  which  I  am  about  to  quote,  is  recognized  by 
the  G-eneral  Conference  of  the  M.  E.  Church  as  a 
standard  work,  suitable  as  a  text  book  for  young 
men,  in  their  preparatory  studies  for  the  ministry 
in  their  church ;  and  for  the  "  third  year/'  in  their 
" course  of  study."  See  "Discipline,"  page  217, 
under  the  head  "  Systematic  Divinity."  The  work 
referred  to,  is  "Hibbard  on  Baptism."  I  quote 
from  the  edition  of  1841,  page  174.  It  reads  as 
follows :  "  It  is  but  just  to  remark  that  in  one 
principle,  the  Baptist  and  Pedobaptist  Churches 
agree.  They  both  agree  in  rejecting  from  commu- 
nion at  the  Table  of  the  Lord,  and  in  denying  the 
rights  of  church  fellowship  to  ali  who  have  not  been 
baptized.  Valid  baptism  they  consider  as  essential 
to  constitute  visible  church  membership.  This 
also  we  hold.  The  only  question,  then,  that  hero 
divides  us  is,  what  is  essential  to  valid  baptism." 


34  REMINGTON 

I  sincerely  thank  brother  Hibbard,  my  old  friend, 
for  the  above  honest  statement,  for  the  concession 
which  he  has  so  frankly  made,  and  for  the  justice 
which  he  has  done  to  Baptist  principles.  On  the 
communion  question,  brother  Hibbard  is  m princi- 
ple a  Baptist,  and  if  he  should  ever  happen  to  dis- 
cover that  the  Greek  word  baptize,  means  immerse, 
I  think  that  about  the  only  prop  that  holds  him  to 
Pedobaptist  views  would  fall.  And,  notwithstand- 
ing he  has  written  a  very  elaborate  and  able  work 
to  defend  Pedobaptists,  yet  I  have  no  doubt  that 
the  candor  and  integrity  of  this  excellent  brother, 
would  lead  him*  to  follow  the  example  of  some  of 
his  brethren  who  have  felt  it  their  duty  to  be 
u  buried  with  Christ  by  baptism." 

To  show  that  this  view  of  the  subject  is,  and 
ever  has  been  essentially  Methodistic,  the  reader 
shall  be  furnished  with  extracts  from  the  writings 
of  the  founders  and  fathers  of  Methodism.  We 
will  begin  with  Rev-.  John  Wesley,  their  founder. 
In  his  notes  on  Acts  v.  2,  he  says :  "  Here  is  a  native 
specimen  of  a  New  Testament  Church,  which  is, 
a  company  of  men,  called  by  the  Gospel,  grafted 
into  Christ  by  baptism."  Rev.  Joseph  Benson, 
who,  by  the  appointment  of  the  English  Conference, 
wrote  a  commentary,  in  which  he  was  to  embody 
and  expand  the  notes  of  Mr.  Wesley,  in  his  com- 
mentary on  the  same  passage,  endorses  Mr.  W's 
notes.  He  observes,  "  As  the  word  church  (ekMe- 
sia)  now  occurs  a  second  time  in  this  history,  it 
may  be  proper  to  observe,  that  we  have  here  a  na- 
tive specimen  of  a  New  Testament  Church ;  which 
is  a  company  of  persons  called  by  the  Gospel, 
grafted  into  Christ  by  faith  and  the  Holy  Spirit, 


ON    COMMUNION.  •    ) 

admitted  into  the  society  of  Christians  by  baptism  " 
Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  on  the  same  passage,  q 
Mr.  Wesley's  words  verbatim,  viz.,  that  a  New 
Testament  Church  must  be  "1.  Called  by  the 
Gospel.  2.  Grafted  into  Christ  by  baptism."  In 
his  observations  on  the  nature  and  importance  of 
baptism  at  the  close  of  Mark  xvi.  on  page  349,  the 
Dr.  remarks  that  ''according  to  its  nature,  it  is 
introductory  to  the  visible  church/'  And  i 
"  Baptism  also  brings  its  privileges  along  with  it ; 
while  it  opens  the  way  to  a  partaking  of  holy  things 
in  the  church,  and  places  the  baptized  within  the 
church,  over  which  God  exercises  a  more  singular 
providence  than  over  those  who  are  out  of  the 
church." 

One  quotation  more  may  suffice.  This  is  from 
high  authority — Rev.  Richard  Watson,  who  is  the 
theological  oracle  of  the  Methodists,  both  in  Em  • 
land  and  in  this  country.  In  his  Theological  Insti- 
tutes, volume  iii.  in  the  chapter  headed  "The 
Christian  Church,"  Mr.  W.  says,  "  The  Church  of 
Christ,  in  its  largest  sense,  consists  of  all  who  have 
been  baptized  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  who  there- 
by make  a  visible  profession  of  faith  in  his  Divine 
mission."  Again,  on  the  same  page,  Mr.  W.  as- 
Berta  :  "  It  is  obligatory  on  all  who  are  convinced  of 
the  truth  of  Christianity  to  be  baptized:  and  upon 
all  thus  baptized,  frequently  to  partake  of  the 
Lord's  Supper."  On  page  371,  the  same  author 
observes,  "Thus  was  baptism  expressly  made  the 
initiatory  rite,  by  which  believers  of  'vail  nation-'' 
were  to  be  introduced  into  the  church  and  coven;;  •  t 
of  grace."  With  the  above  authorities  before  him, 
what  sound  Methodist  can  ever  invite  to  the  Lord's 


3G  REM1NGT0N 

Table,  or  commune  with  an  unbaptized  person? 
And  how  can  he  censure  Baptists  for  adhering  to  a 
principle  which  he  himself  allows?  Let  all  our 
Pedobaptist  brethren  commune  with  us  in  baptism, 
and  we  will  commune  with  them  in  the  Lord's 
Supper.  For  the  former,  according  to  their  own 
concessions,  must  precede  the  latter. 

Does  any  one  think  we  demand  too  much  of  our 
brethren  in  order  to  union?  But  of  whom  do  we 
a*k  this  ?  Only  of  those  who  admit  that  the  im- 
mersion of  believers  is  valid  baptism,  (and  very  few 
dispute  this,)  and  who  profess  a  desire  to  have  every 
barrier  to  union  at  the  Lord's  Table  removed.  It 
is  not  in  our  power  to  remove  this  barrier,  for  we 
did  not  raise  it.  TVe  have  not  changed  the  ordi- 
nances. On  the  contrary,  is  it  not  clear  as  the  sun, 
that  we  adhere  to  the  plain  letter  of  the  law  of 
Christ,  against  our  own  ease,  interest,  and  popu- 
larity ?  "We  ask  of  them  no  sacrifices  which  we  do 
not  cheerfully  make  ourselves.  Only  as  "  the 
answer  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God,"  do  we 
hold  our  present  position.  All  that  we  ask  of  our 
brethren  is,  that  in  brotherly  love  they  will  respect 
our  consciences  in  this  matter,  so  far  as  what  we 
ask  does  not  interfere  with  their  own.  If  we  under- 
stand the  case  aright,  they  could  all  be  immersed 
without  any  violation  of  conscience.  By  so  doing, 
*hey  remove  the  only  barrier  to  our  church  commu- 
nion, and  having  "  one  Lord,  one  faith,  and  one 
baptism,"  we  shall  joyfully  come  together  "  in  the 
unity  of  the  Spirit,  and  in  the  bond  of  peace." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    COMPARISON    CONTINUED. 

Another  fact  which  illustrates  the  inconsistency 
of  nearly  all  the  Pedobaptist  churches  is,  that 
their  open  communion  professions  conflict  with 
their  own  Discipline,  public  journals,  and  ecclesias- 
tical decisions.  By  an  examination  of  their  Dis- 
ciplines, it  will  be  found  that  they  are  but  little,  if 
a '.ay,  more  open  communion  than  Baptists. 

Let  us  glance  at  a  few  facts.  Dr.  Howell  justly  ob- 
serves— "  In  reference  to  the  several  Protestant  de- 
nominations, I  believe  they  all  hold  that  manifest 
corruption  in  doctrine  and  worship  is  a  disqualifica- 
tion for  the  reception  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Let  that 
fact  be  remembered,  and  then  how  shall  we  answer 
the  following  interrogatories?  Do  not  Methodists 
habitually  and  bitterly  charge  both  these  upon  the 
Presbyterians,  on  the  score  of  their  Calvinism  ? 
Are  the  Presbyterians  less  ready  or  adroit  in  hurling 
back  upon  the  Methodists  the  same  imputations  on 
the  score  of  their  Arminianism  ?  Each,  too,  has  its 
own  internal  war.  Old  School,  New  School,  Cum- 
berland, Hopkinsian,  and  other  Presbyterians;  and 
Episcopal,  Protestant,  Whitfield,  and  other  Metho- 
dists, strive  on  the  arena  of  ecclesiastical  combat. 
Do  they  all  commune  ?  If  thev  do,  is  it  a  feast  of 
4  37 


38  "REMINGTON 

union,  and  the  love  of  each  other,  for  the  truth's 
sake,  which  each  denies  is  held  by  the  other.  If 
so,  what  means  this  clangor  of  arms,  this  shaking 
of  shields,  and  the  noise  of  their  fierce  combats 
which  I  hear?  If  they  unite  in  love  at  the  Lord's 
Table,  why  do  they  denounce  each  other  in  derision 
immediately  after,  in  the  conference,  the  session, 
and  the  pulpit?" 

These  remarks  of  Dr.  H.  may  seem  to  some 
severe,  yet  are  they  j  ust.  Dr.  Engles,  the  editor 
of  a  leading  journal  of  the  Presbyterian  Chlrch, 
under  date  of  Sept.  12,  1840,  observed — "It  is 
presumed  that  a  Presbyterian  believes  in  Presby- 
terian doctrine,  or  why  is  he  a  Presbyterian  ?  And 
that  a  Methodist  believes  in  the  doctrine  of  his  own 
church,  or  why  is  he  not  something  else?  The 
Methodists  and  Presbyterians  alike  believe  that  they 
have  very  good  reasons  for  being  as  they  are;  nay, 
so  potent  are  those  reasons  regarded,  that  neither 
imagines  he  could  ever  be  induced  to  change  his 
position.  *  *  *  *  Let  us  ask  them  if  they 
are  prepared  to  advise  their  people,  on  all  favor- 
able occasions,  to  go  and  commune  with  Presby- 
terians? *  *  *  Wliv>  then,  should  they  be 
angry  with  us  for  following  their  example  ?  Hold- 
ing the  faith  we  do,  *  *  can  we,  or  ought  we 
to  say  to  the  sheep  of  our  folds — Yonder  are  pas- 
tures in  which  we  believe  there  are  poisonous  weeds 
growing,  but  still  there  can  be  little  danger  in  feed- 
ing occasionally  there?  In  this  matter  we  have 
never  found  our  Methodist  brethren  a  particle  more 
liberal  than  ourselves." 

Thus  we  see  that  there  is  not  much  of  the  spirit 
of  communion  between  Presbyterians  and  Metho- 


opt    COMMUNION.  3D 

The  same  writer  gives  us  to  understand, 
tjiat  the  hostile  attitudes  of  Old  School  and  New 
School  Presbyterians  to  each  other,  is  a  sufficient 
barrier  to  communion  together.  "The  measure/' 
says  Dr.  Engles,  "by  which  the  New  School  were 
excluded  from  the  communion  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  was  either  righteous  or  unrighteous;  if  the 
former,  why  should  we  make  any  professions  of  at- 
tachment which  our  actions  do  not  sustain;  or,  if 
the  hitter,  why  do  we  not  magnanimously  avow  it, 
and  invite  them  back  in  a  body?  We  believe  it 
was  righteous;  and  whether  right  or  wrong  in  our 
belief,  we  contend  that  while  the  causes  exist  which 
led  to  it,  it  is  utterly  inexpedient  to  hold  communion 
with  those  churches." 

Who  does  not  see  from  these  extracts  that  our 
Pelobaptist  brethren  who  view  the  subject  of 
open  communion  in  all  its  bearings,  are  obliged 
to  decide  in  favor  of  close  communion.  The  fol- 
lowing views  of  a  distinguished  Pedobaptist  writer. 
I  believe,  will  express  the  feelings  of  nine-tenths 
of  all  the  members  of  the  different  evangelical 
churches,  if  they  were  to  speak  out  on  this  ques- 
tion: "For  the  last  twenty  years  or  more,"  says 
the  writer  referred  to,  "  I  do  not  recollect  of  having 
entertained  a  doubt,  that  the  opening  of  the  doors 
of  communion  to  all  of  what  are  denominated 
evangelical  churches,  is  erroneous;  that  it  will 
either  be  changed,  or  lead  to  errors  of  a  still 
more  serious  nature,  containing  in  itself  essen- 
tially an  indifference  to  sound  religious  principle 
and  practice,  though  slow  in  its  development. 
****][  object  to  the  practice,  in  the  firs* 
place,  because  I  have  never  yet  aech  the  man,  how- 


40  REMTNOTON 

'■vcr  strenuously  he  might  advocate  it,  who  couM 
ihform  me  how  far  it  was  right,  and  duty  called 
to  extend  the  privilege — a  very  important  item  in 
making  out  a  line  of  conduct,  and  without  which  it' 
must  be  unsafe  in  matters  of  conscience  to  act  at  all. 
We  are  told,  it  is  true,  that  all  who  are  evangelical, 
or  who  hold  the  essentials  of  religion,  are  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  Lord's  Table;  but  then  these  essen- 
tials are  undefined;  some  make  them  but  two  or 
three  at  most,  others,  perhaps,  four  or  five,  and 
•  •thers  still  more.     *     *     * 

M  1  object  to  the  practice,  in  the  second  place, 
because  it  clearly  implies  that  our  church  creeds 
or  conl  contain  certain  items  of  faith  and 

practice,  the  belief  of  which,  or  conformity  to 
which,  is  not  necessary  to  the  right  of  church 
privilege.  This  implies  either  that  these  things 
are  not  based  on  divine  authority,  on  which  sup- 
position they  are  the  works  of  men ;  they  are  schis- 
matical  too,  dividing  the  church  where  there  is  no 
conscientious  principle  involved,  and,  therefore, 
ought  to  be  rejected  as  evils;  or  it  implies  that,  not- 
withstanding they  are  based  on  divine  autl 
they  are  indifferent — of  little  importance,  may  be 
practised  or  not,  as  we  may  see  proper,  with  im- 
punity;— which  last  conclusion  is  to  me  revolt- 
ing. *  *  *  *  T  suppose  a  case  which  I  think 
is  in  point.  An  individual  applies  to  you  for  admis- 
sion to  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  After  ex- 
amining him  to  full  satisfaction  as  to  his  experi- 
mental religion,  you  inquire  of  him  whether  h 
conform  to  the  order  of  God's  house,  in  submitting 
to  discipline,  the  discharge  of  religious  duty,  such 
as  family  discipline,  the  baptism  of  his  children, 


ON    COMMUNION.  41 

&C.  But  he  replies,  I  do  not  approve  of  this 
government,  and  us  to  the  baptism  of  children,  1 
consider  it  unauthorized.  You  would  reply,  I  pre- 
sume, that  you  make  subjection  to  this  duty  a  con- 
diii  >u  of  membership,  and  of  privileges  connected 
with  it.  Bat  on  the  supposition  you  practise  open 
communion,  he  would  reply;  You  admit  to  all  the 
privilege  I  desire  without  such  subjection,  for  you 
admit  B'qitists,  and  those  who  neither  believe  nor 
practise  it.  You  reply — because  they  submit  to 
their  own  order.  He  takes  his  departure,  connects 
himaejf  with  those  who  will  not  require  this  thing, 
and  returns,  and,  at  your  invitation,  enjoys  with  you 
all  he  asked.  I  see  in  such  a  case  a  predicament 
I  should  not  envy.  For  what  is  your  attitude  now 
in  the  eyes  of  your  own  members  ?  Most  assuredly 
you  appear  inconsistent,  and  they  must  feel  in  con- 
sequence that  they  lie  under  a  condition,  a  com- 
pliance with  which  guaranties  them  no  privilege. 
You  lay  every  distinguishing  feature  of  your  own 
church  liable  to  prejudice  and  reproach.  To  me 
the  inference  would  be,  your  conduct  being  right, 
that  your  church  ought  forthwith  to  relinquish  its 
own  distinctiveness,  and  sink  into  the  church 
catholic,  and  every  other  church  practising  the  same 
ought  to  do  likewise. 

"lam  fully  aware  that  my  views  on  this  subject 
are  esteemed  very  illiberal.  This  is  the  uryu- 
t.ientum  ad  invididm,  which  with  many  weighs 
heavier  than  a  thousand  others.  I  have,  however, 
always  been  happy  to  consider  them  liberal  to  truth 
and  sincere  in  the  truth  But  the  state  of  the  case 
is  misapprehended;  the  principle,  on  the  ground  of 
consistency  and  sincerity  in  lue  truth,  applied 
4* 


42  REMINGTON 

equally  to  all  sects,  who  must,  in  charity,  be  sup- 
posed conscientiously  attached  to  their  own  pecu- 
liarities, for  where  this  is  the  case,  they  must  needs 
do  violence  to  their  own  consciences  where  they 
dispense  with  such  peculiarities.  And  I  would 
here  add,  that  the  practice  is  absolutely  inconsistent, 
in  my  opinion,  with  the  very  idea  of  fellowship. 
which  in  all  cases  implies  a  community  of  respon- 
sibility." 

In  addition  to  the  above,  I  will  call  the  attention 
of  the  reader  to  an  extract  from  the  records  of  a 
Presbyterian  Synod,  as  published  by  its  order  in 
the  Union  Evangelist  and  Presbyterian  Advocate, 
1820,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  96—99.  To  the  question— "Is 
it  proper  that  there  should  be  intercommunion 
between  Presbyterians  and  those  denominations 
who  hold  Arminian  sentiments?"  the  following 
answer  is  given  in  this  report: — "That after  giving 
it  all  the  attention  which  the  importance  of  the 
subject  demands,  they  are  of  the  opinion,  that  .fur 
Presbyterians  to  hold  communion  in  sealing  ordi- 
nances with  those  who  deny  the  doctrines  of  grace, 
Through  the  blood  of  Christ,  &c,  is  highly  preju- 
dicial to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Nor  can  such 
intercommunion  answer  any  valuable  purpose  to 
those  who  practise  it,  as  two  cannot  walk  together 
except  they  be  agreed."  Every  one  perceives  that 
this  report  is  directed  against  Methodists,  and  all 
who  hold  Arminian  sentiments. 

Another  report  of  a  committee  on  a  former  reso- 
lution of  a  Presbyterian  Synod,  and  which  was 
adopted,  goes  even  further  than  this.  It  is  as 
follows :— - 

"The  committee  art  of  opinion,  that  for  Pres- 


ON   cOMMt'XTON.  43 

byterians  to  hold  communion  in  scaling  ordinances 
with  those  who  belong  to  churches  holding  doc- 
eon  tra  it  to  our  standards,  is  incompatible 
with  the  purity  and  peace  of  the  church,  and  highly 
prejudicial  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Nor  can 
such  communions  answer  any  valuable  purpose,  kc. 
In  accordance  with  these  views  your  committee  are 
of  opinion,  that  the  practice  of  inviting  to  the  corn- 
munion  all  who  are  of  good  standing  in  their  own 
churches,  is  calculated  to  do  much  evil,  and  should 
not  be  continued ;  while  every  church  session  is, 
however,  left  at  liberty  to  admit  to  occasional  com- 
munion members  of  other  denominations,  after 
having  conversed  with  them,  and  received  satisfac- 
tion of  their  soundness  in  the  faith  and  Christian 
practice." 

The  committee,  though  full  in  its  report  in  favor 
of  close  communion,  yet  seems  rather  to  draw  back 
a  little  by  leaving  every  church  session  at  liberty 
to  admit  to  "  occasional  communion  members  of 
other  denominations/'  that  is,  on  the  condition  that 
they  give  "  satisfaction  of  their  soundness  in  the 
faith  and  Christian  practice ;"  in  other  words,  if 
they  are  Presbyterians  in  doctrine  and  in  practice ; 
for  nothing  short  of  this  could  give  the  required 
u  satisfaction." 

The  General  Assembly  of  1839  fully  sustains 
these  synodical  doctrines.  The  language  of  the 
Assembly  is  : — "  Every  Christian  church,  or  associa- 
tion of  churches,  is  entitled  to  declare  the  terms  of 
admission  into  the  communion.  And  what  is  the 
unanimous  doctrine  of  their  leading  divines  as  to 
these  terms?     Aus.     "Agreement    in   essentiaU." 


44  REMINGTON 

What  are  the  " essentials?"     Answer.  The  reports 
which  I  have  just  quoted  inform  us. 

This  is  going  quite  beyond  Baptists.  They  do 
not  feci  at  liberty  to  exclude  any  true  believer  in 
Jesus  from  the  Lord's  Table,  whose  life  is  answer- 
able to  his  profession,  and  who  by  precept  and  ex- 
ample sanctions  immersion  as  the  only  Christian 
baptism.  In  short,  they  refuse  not  to  commune 
with  any  exemplary  Christian  whom  they  believe 
to  have  been  inducted  into  the  church  of  God  in 
Christ's  own  appointed  way.  But  Pedobaptists 
will  not  go  thus  far.  There  are  a  multitude  of 
members  whom  tlieyhave  introduced  into  the  Church 
of  God,  and  recognized  as  members  of  his  mystical 
body,  and  yet  they  never  'permit  them  to  commune 
with  them.  I  mean  their  baptized  children,  con- 
cerning whom  they  say  in  their  Confession  of  Faith/ 
p.  273  : — "A  particular  church  consists  of  a  num- 
ber of  professing  Christians,  with  their  offspring, 
voluntarily  associated  together  for  Divine  worship 
and  godly  living."  Again,  p.  327:  "Children 
born  within  the  pale  of  the  visible  church,  and  de- 
dicated to  God  in  baptism,  are  under  the  inspection 
and  government  of  the  church.  And  when  they 
come  to  years  of  discretion,  if  they  be  free  from 
scandal,  sober  and  steady,  and  have  sufficient  know- 
ledge to  discern  the  Lord's  body,  they  ought  to  be 
informed  that  it  is  their  duty  and  privilege  to  come 
to  the  Lord's  Table." 

In  the  Larger  Catechism  we  find  the  following  ■ 
Quest.  62.  "  What  is  the  visible  church  ?"  Ans. 
"The  visible  church  is  a  society  made  up  of  all 
Buch  as,  in  all  ages  and  places  of  the  world,  do  pro- 
fess the  true  religion,  and  their  children." 


on  communion.  45 

Porter,  on  Christian    Baptism,  says :    Baptized 
ren  are  members  of  the  visible  church." 

Dr.  Miller,  whose  views  on  this  subject  harmon- 
ize with  those  of  the  Methodists,  inquires:  "Is 
there  no  advantage  in  publicly  ratifying  the 
connection  of  our  children,  as  well  as  ourselves, 
vith  the  visible  church?'7  Dr.  M  also  avers,  that 
••  there  are  but  two  places  in  the  universe  where 
there  are  no  children ;  one  is  the  bottomless  pit, 
and  the  other  is  the  Baptist  church."  But  in  this 
declaration  the  doctor  was  mistaken.  There  is  one 
more  place  where  there  are  no  children,  and  that  is, 
the  Pedobaptist  communion  table. 

This  is  what  I  call,  not  "  close,"  hut  partial 
communion.  Baptists,  close  communion  as  they 
are,  never  refuse  to  commune  with  their  own  mem- 
bers who  retain  the  moral  standing  they  have  at  the 
time  of  baptism;  but  Pedobaptists  shut  out  from 
the  communion  one-half  or  two-thirds  of  their  mem- 
bers, who  stand  as  fair  as  they  did  when  baptized. 

The  peculiar  views  and  discipline  of  the  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church  render  it  close  communion. 
They  who  contend  for  apostolic  succession  as  essen- 
tial to  the  gospel  ministry,  will  not  recognize  men 
who  are  out  of  that  line  as  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
and  therefore  duly  qualified  to  administer  the  or- 
dinances of  the  church.  With  these  views,  which 
the  whole  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  entertain, 
no  intelligent  member  or  minister  of  that  com- 
munion will  any  more  receive  the  ordinances  from 
the  hands  of  Presbyterian,  Methodist,  or  Baptist 
ministers,  than  they  would  from  the  hands  of  lay- 
men. But  though  they  may  not  deem  it  consistent 
to  come  to  the  Presbyterian   or   Methodist  com- 


40  REMINGTON 

mnnioii  table,  yet  they  will  condescend  to  allow 
them  to  come  to  theirs,  after  the  elements  have  been 
consecrated  by  the  hands  of  one  of  the  regular 
descendants  in  the  line  from  St.  Peter.  And  yet 
by  this  great  condescension  they  exhibit  their  incon- 
sistency, by  departing  from  their  own  laws ;  as  will 
appear  by  a  reference  to  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  under  "  Confirmation."  It  reads  thus : 
"  And  there  shall  none  be  admitted  to  the  holy 
communion,  until  such  times  as  he  be  confirmed, 
or  be  ready  or  desirous  to  be  confirmed. "  .  Of 
course  they  cannot  admit,  according  to  this  law, 
any  but  Roman  Catholics,  and  such  as  have  confir- 
mation like  themselves.  As  for  Presbyterians — 
Old  and  New  School,  Congregationalists,  Metho- 
dists, and  Baptists,  should  they  desire  such  a  privi- 
lege, they  must  all  stand  aside ;  because  none  of 
these  denominations  either  desire,  practise,  or  be- 
lieve in  Confirmation.  With  close  communion 
laws,  I  ask,  how  can  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  be  open  communion  ?  They  cannot  claim 
to  be  open  communionists  with  these  laics,  and 
with  their  refusal  to  reciprocate  the  courtesy  of 
other  denominations  by  sitting  down  with  them  at 
their  table,  and  thereby  recognizing  them  as  churches 
of  Christ,  and  their  pastors  as  his  accredited  and 
authorized  ministers. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  by  a  fair 
construction  of  her  Discipline,  is  far  from  bein^ 
open  communion.*     By  open  communion,  I  under. 


*  This  is  the  Discipline  of  1847.  Since  then,  the  General 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  somewhat 
revised  this  little  book.  In  thus  revising  it.  they  have  struck 
out,  on  page  77,  section  xxiii.  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  thos« 


ON   COMMUNION.  47 

xtand  a  joint  participation  of  the  different  evangel^ 
cal  denominations  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  This  de- 
finition is  intended  to  include,  not  only  the  admis- 
sion <>t'  members  of  other  churches  of  good  and 
regular  standing,  but  a  reciprocity  of  the  different 
churches  in  the  communion  one  with  the  other. 
We  have  seen,  that  though  the  Episcopalians  will 
break  their  own  rules  to  allow  persons  who  neither 
practise  nor  believe  in  Confirmation  to  come  to  the 
Lord's  Table  with  them,  yet  they  will  not  recipro- 
cate by  receiving  the  elements  from  what  they  deem 
onconsecrated  hands.  The  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  do  not  deem  it  wrong  to  go  and  eat  and 
drink  with  them,  though  they  will  never  return  the 
courtesy.  But  I  shall  show  that,  whatever  Metho- 
dists may  do  with  regard  to  the  act  of  sitting  down  at 
their  table,  according  to  their  Discipline  they  are 
far  from  being  open  communion  with  regard  to  the 
admission  of  members  of  other  churches  to  their 
own  table. 

words  :  "  Let  no  person  that  is  not  a  member  of  our  church 
be  admitted  to  the  communion  without  examination,  and  somo 
token  given  by  an  elder  or  deacon."  "With  this  notice  of  this 
fact,  the  reader  will  account  for  the  present  edition  of  this 
little  work,  not  retaining  it,  as  in  the  former  editions.  Still 
with  this  alteration  of  the  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  she  has  not  gone  far  enough  in  reform  or  revi- 
sion to  merit  the  name  of  being  an  open  communion  church. 
Perhaps  the  next  General  Conference  will  strike  a  blow  at  the 
very  root  of  the  argument,  by  which  I  have  endeavored  to 
prove  that  she  is  not  open  communion  iu  her  Discipline,  if  she 
is  in  practice.  And  then  I  shall  be  free  to  come  out  and  admit 
that  siie  is  consistent  as  it  relates  to  an  agreement  of  practice 
and  Discipline.  One  of  her  ministers  remarked  to  me  that 
their  Discipline  was  open  communion  in  its  spirit,  il  it  were 
not  in  its  letter.  I  merely  replied  that  I  considered  it  then  a 
wry  extraordinary  book.  Ita  letter  said  --no,"  hut  its  spirit 
■aid,  "yes."  (18S2.) 


48  REMINGTON 

On  page  104  of  their  Book  of  Discipline,  1850, 
it  is  asked :  Quest.  Are  there  any  directions  to  be 
given  concerning  the  Administration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  ?  In  the  second  article  of  the  answer,  we 
have  the  following  :  "  No  person  shall  be  admitted 
to  the  Lord's  Supper  among  us,  who  is  guilty  of  any 
practice  for  which  we  would  exclude  a  member  of 
our  church." 

We  will  suppose, a  minister  of  another  church 
applies  to  an  elder  for  admission  to  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. The  elder  looks  at  him,  and  says:  "You  are 
very  plain  in  your  dress,  and  as  far  as  your  appear- 
auce  is  concerned  I  can  admit  you,  but  I  must  ex- 
amine you  as  to  your  practice."  He  then  takes  the 
Book  of  Discipline  and  reads  on  page  86,  section  i., 
question  4,  "What  shall  be  done  with  those  minis- 
ters or  preachers  who  hold  and  disseminate,  publicly 
or  privately,  doctrines  which  are  contrary  to  our 
articles  of  religion  ?  Ans.  Let  the  same  process  be 
observed  as  in  case  of  gross  immorality."  "Now," 
says  the  elder,  "I  would  inquire,  are  you  with  us 
in  doctrine?"  "No,  sir,  I  am  not;"  replies  the 
applicant.  "  I  believe,"  continues  he,  "  in  the  doc- 
trine of  personal  and  eternal  predestination  and 
foreordination,  as  set  forth  in  the  Presbyterian 
Confession  of  Faith,  pp.  15 — 19;  and  I  accord- 
ingly preach  it  whenever  I  deem  it  proper  so  to 
do."  "Then,"  says  the  elder,  "I  cannot  admit 
you  to  the  table  of  the  Lord,  as  you  must  perceive 
from  the  Discipline  which  I  have  just  read." 
"But,  then,"  responds  the  applicant,  "that  applies 
to  your  ministers  and  not  to  us."  "I  admit  that 
it  does,"  rejoins  the  elder;  "but  think  you  that 
we  ought  to  admit  a  person  to  the  table  who  is 


OX    COMMUNION.  49 

guilty  of  what  would  exclude  a  minister  from  the 
church."  Besides,  the  Discipline  says  in  another 
place,  "that  no  pers  u  shall  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's 
Suppe  •  as,  who  is  guilty  of  any  practice  for 

which  we  would  exclude  a  member  of  our  church.'' 
"May  I  not  further  inquire,''  says  the  applicant, 
'•whether  this  last  rule  which  you  have  quoted  does 
not  apply  to  members,  and  not  to  ministers?"  "I 
think  not,"  replies  the  elder;  "  for  we  have  another 
rule  very  similar  to  it  which  particularly  applies  to 
members.  Page  92,  section  iv.,  article  o.  'If  any 
member  of  our  church  shall  be  clearly  convicted  of 
endeavoring  to  sow  dissensions  in  any  of  our  socie- 
ties, by  inveighing  against  either  our  doctrines  or 
Discipline,  such  person  so  offending  shall  be  first 
reproved  by  the  senior  minister  or  preacher  of  his 
circuit,  and,  if  he  persist  in  such  pernicious  prac- 
tices, he  shall  be  expelled  from  the  church.'  Now, 
if  you  will  promise  that  you  will  not  inveigh  either 
against  our  doctrines  or  Discipline,  I  can  admit  you, 
otherwise,  I  cannot."  "Why,  I  thought  you  were 
open  communion ;  but  I  find  I  am  mistaken,"  re- 
plies the  applicant.  "0  yes,"  says  the  elder,  "we 
are  open  communion.  Our  greatest  objection  to 
the  Baptists  is,  that  they  will  hang  on  to  close  com- 
munion." "Well,  upon  my  word,"  says  the  ap- 
plicant, "all  the  difference  I  can  perceive  between 
you  and  the  Baptists  is,  you  profess  open  com- 
munion, and  are  in  your  Discipline  close  com- 
munion; while  the  Baptists  make  their  practice 
agree  with  their  profession.  From  what  I  can  learn 
from  you  and  your  Discipline,  I  find  that  the  terms 
of  communion  with  you  are  simply  these — we  must 
believe,  j>reach}  and  dress  just  like  the  Methodists 
5 


50  REMINGTON 

If  I  mistake  not,  that  is  going  a  little  ahead  of  the 
Baptists.  For  Baptists  will  allow  their  members 
and  ministers  to  differ  on  some  theological  points, 
and  yet  not  refuse  to  fellowship  them  at  the  Lord's 
Table.  Permit  me,  then,  my  dear  friend,  to  sug- 
gest,  that  instead  of  crying  out  against  the  Baptists 
for  their  close  communion,  boasting  at  the 'same 
time  of  your  open  communion,  you  lay  your  hand 
upon  your  mouth,  until  you  alter  your  Discipline, 
striking  out  the  restrictions  which  render  your 
church  more  restricted  in  her  communion,  than  even 
that  church  which  we  Pedobaptists  all  agree  to  cen- 
sure for  its  practical  want  of  catholicity." 

Finally,  it  can  be  shown  from  the  Di>\-ipline  of 
the  M.  E.  Church,  that  it  is  as  strictly  close 
communion  as  any  Baptist  church  in  the  land. 
Page  74,  section  ii.,  question 4,  it  is  asked — "What 
shall  we  do  with  these  members  of  our  church  whe 
wilfully  and  repeatedly  neglect  to  meet  their  class? 
Ans.  1.  Let  the  elder,  deacon,  or  one  of  the 
preachers,  visit  them,  whenever  it  is  practicable, 
and  explain  to  them  the  consequence  if  they  con- 
tinue to  neglect,  viz.,  exclusion.  2.  If  they  do  not 
amend,  let  him  who  has  the  charge  of  the  circuit  or 
station  bring  their  case  before  the  society,  or  a 
select  number,  before  whom  they  shall  have  been 
cited  to  appear;  and  if  they  be  found  guilty  of 
wilful  neglect  by  the  decision  of  a  majority  of  the 
members,  before  whom  their  case  is  brought,  let 
them  be  laid  aside,  and  let  the  preacher  show  that 
they  are  excluded  for  a  breach  of  our  rules,  and  not 
for  immoral  conduct. " 

From  the  above  laws  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  we 
observe   that    non-attendance    upon   class,  without 


ON    COMMUNION.  5L 

any  immorality,  is  sufficient  to  exclude  a  person 
be  church.     Now  suppose  this  excluded  per- 
son, who  may  be  iu  every  other  sense   a  worthy 
member,  should  join  another  i  I  church — 

nothing  against  his  moral  character — no  one  doubts 
his  piety — not  even  the  Methodists  doubt  his  sin- 
cerity, and  that  he  is  a  man  of  genuine  religion. 
All  that  can  be  said  of  him  is,  "  He  will  not  attend 
class."  Well,  now,  he  comes  back  to  the  church 
from  which  he  has  been  excluded,  and  presents 
himself  as  a  member  of  another  church,  in  good 
and  regular  standing,  for  admittance  to  the  Lord's 
Table.  Says  the  elder,  "My  friend,  I  cannot 
admit  you. "  "Why  not?"  asks  the  brother;  "do 
you  not  believe  that  I  am  a  Christian,  and  that  I 
am  bound  with  you,  as  such,  to  a  better  land? 
And  do  you  not  rejoice  with  me  in  the  hope  of 
sitting  down  together  at  the  marriage  supper  of  the 
Lamb  V  "  0  yes,  my  brother,"  responds  the  elder, 
"1  must  inquire  (perhaps  I  am  a  little  too  fast,) 
are  you  truly  sorry  that  you  did  not  comply  with 
the  rules  of  the  church,  and  attend  class?-'  "I  am 
not  sorry,  my  brother,"  he  responds,  "for  I  did 
not  then,  neither  do  I  now,  believe  in  class  meet- 
ings." "Well,  then,  I  must  read  you  the  law," 
replies  the  elder.  Page  96,  section  iv.,  article  5 — 
f  After  such  forms  of  trial  and  expulsk  n,  such  per- 
sons shall  have  no  privilege  of  society  or  of  sacra- 
ments in  our  church,  without  contrition,  coni 
and  proper  trial.'  Now,  if  you  are  not  penitent,  as 
1  perceive  you  are  not,  you  see  that  you  cannot  be 
admitted  to  the  Lord's  Table  with  us."  He  answers, 
u  I  have  only  to  say,  my  dear  brother,  as  I  have  not- 
violated  any  of  the  laws  of  Jesus  Christ,  1  aid  not 


52  REMTXOTON 

Know  but  you  might  deem  it  proper  to  allow  me  to 
sit  down  occasionally  with  my  old  brethren  at  the 
Lord's  Table. "  "It  is  true,"  replies  the  elder, 
"I  do  not  charge  you  with  any  direct  violation  of 
the  laws  of  Christ,  but  you  have  broken  or  refused 
to  yield  obedience  to  the  laws  of  our  church,  and 
that  is  sufficient  to  shut  you  away  from  the  table." 
"  Why,  elder,  the  Baptists  would  not  do  that  thing. 
They  shut  the  door,  they  say,  because  we  will  not 
obey  Christ.  And  there  seems  to  be  some  good 
reason  in  that;  but  you  admit  that  I  am  not  ex- 
cluded for  disobedience  to  Christ,  but  to  your  church, 
lias  your  church  a  power  to  make  laws,  and  bind 
them  upon  its  members,  that  Christ  never  made, 
and  then  for  non-obedience  to  exclude  a  genuine 
Christian,  and  treat  him  as  a  heathen  and  a  pub- 
lican ?  If  so,  I  regret  not  that  I  am  out  of  the 
pale  of  her  communion/ * 

In  conclusion,  let  us  inquire  whether,  by  fair 
inference,  this  rule  appertaining  to  doss  meetings, 
which  would  exclude  all  the  members  of  the  M.  E. 
Church  who  wilfully  refuse  to  attend  them,  and  cut 
off  all  such  from  the  Lord's  Table  in  that  church, 
would  not  also  preclude  members  of  other  churches 
who  do  not  attend  class  meetings  from  communing 
with  the  Methodists  ?  I  think  it  would.  We  have 
seen  already  that  those  excluded  for  the  neglect  of 
this  duty  are  cut  off  from  that  privilege*,  though 
they  may  be  genuine  Christians,  and  in  good  stand- 
ing in  other  churches.  And  the  rule  which  says — 
"No  person  shall  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper 
among  us,  who  is  guilty  of  any  practice  for  which 
we  would  exclude  a  member  of  our  church,"  would 
shut  out  from  communion  among  the  Methodists 


ON   COMMUNION.  53 

nil  members  of  other  churches,  who  do  not  practise 
attending  class  meetin  p  N  w  I  would  a^k  what 
are  the  facts  in  this  case?  In  the  first  place,  class 
meetings  are  a  peculiarity  of  Methodism.  There 
may  be  a  few  churches  that  have  them  to  some 
.  lit ;  but  the  great  mass  of  the  evangelical 
cnurches  neither  have  them,  nor  practise  attending 
them.  Their  ''practice"  essentially  varies  from 
that  of  the  31.  E.  Church,  and  is  such  as  would 
exclude  them  from  the  M.  E.  Church  if  they 
belonged  to  it.  Can  the  Methodists,  then,  admit 
them  to  the  Lord's  Supper?  Their  rule  says,  that 
they  shall  not  be  admitted.  If  they  do  admit  thc#u 
they  break  their  own  rules;  and  this  they  ought 
not  to  do,  for  every  traveling  preacher  is  required 
to  pledge  "not  to  mend  their  rules,  but  to  keep 
them;  not  for  wrath  but  conscience'  sake."  Sec  p 
4(3,  art.  10. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PRINCIPLE    THE    UKOUND    OF   ACTION. 

I  have  been  thus  particular  in  the  examination 
of  this  subject,  to  show  the  ground  upon  which 
Baptists  act  in  the  admission  of  persons  to  the 
Lord's  Supper — that  it  is  not  prejudice  nor  bigotry 
that  influences  them  to  adopt  their  course,  but 
principle — that  it  is  not  that  they  believe  them- 
selves any  better  than  other  Christians  who  differ 
from  them  in  opinion,  but  because  they  desire  to  do 
the  will  of  G-ocf,  as  they  understand  it  to  be  re- 
vealed in  the  gospel  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  It  is 
not,  in  short,  because  they  do  not  believe  that  there 
are  multitudes  of  Pedobaptista  who,  but  for  educa- 
tional influence,  would  have  received  the  ordinances 
as  Baptists  understand  and  practise  them;  but  they 
aare  not  either  practise  error  or  sanction  it  by  ox 
lending  church  fellowship  to  such  as,  in  their  opin- 
ion, have  been  irregularly  LUti\MUiX'(J  mio  the  visible 
church  of  Christ.  For  rk.fi  course,  consistent  as  it 
must  be  admitted  to  be,  they  are  most  unjustly 
censured  as  being  exceedingly  uncharitable  towards 
other  Christian  denominations.  But  the  censure  is 
powerless,  and  will  remain  so  until  it  can  be  shown 
that  the  Baptists  have  been,  or  are  now,  unsocial 
and  intolerant  towards  those  Christians  who  walk 

(54) 


ON   COMMUNION.  55 

not  with  them.  Baptists  will  go  with  other  denomi- 
nations just  as  far  as  they  can  without  compromising 

the  truth.  This  they  cannot,  will  not  do.  They 
will  ei  dlpit — mingle   in   the  social  and 

prayer  circle;  they  will  rejoice  in  the  prosperity  of 
i  Christ  in  Pedobaptist  churches;  but 
when  you  ask  them  to  sanction  sprinkling  or  pour- 
ing ft.-.-  i  baptism,  every  true  Baptist  will 
be  found  at  his  post,  and  from  it  he  will  not  move, 
whatever  the  consequences  may  be.  He  would 
consider  himself  a  traitor  to  God  and  man  to  forsake 
it  of  duty.  The  truth  he  will  stand  up  to, 
whatever  it  may  cost  him;  nor  will  he  sell  it,  if  for 
it  he  could  obtain  the  smiles  of  the  whole  Pedo- 
baptist  world. 

In  these  sheets  I  have  endeavored  to  show  that 
open  communionists,  as  some  would  call  them,  have 
not  been  more  distinguished  for  respect  to  the  rights 
of  conscience,  and  a  brotherly  feeling  towards  all 
Christians,  than  the  poor  reviled  Baptists.  That 
many  of  them  have  been  the  persecutors,  and  the 
Baptists  the  persecuted.  That  whatever  Baptists 
have  been,  they  have  never  been  persecutors.  They 
will  suiter  any  thing  for  the  truth,  but  they  will  not 
coerce  any  man's  conscience.  If  neither  arguments 
nor  gospel  means  will  bring  him  over  to  their 
views,  they  leave  him  to  God  and  his  own  con- 
science,  with  their  prayers  for  his  spiritual  and 
eternal  welfare. 

Let  me  say  to  all  whom  it  may  concern  in 
general,  and  to  my  old  friends  of  the  M.  E.  Churcli 
in  particular,  do  not  censure  us  for  being  close  com- 
munion in  our  practice,  while  you  are  decidedly  so 
in  theory.     I  have  shown  that  the  laws  of  the  Epis- 


56  REMINGTON 

copal  and  M.  E.  Church,  and  others,  are  close  com- 
munion in  their  character.  The  former  can  only 
admit  to  the  Lord's  Supper  those  that  are  confirmed 
or  desire  so  to  be;  and  the  latter  can  admit  from 
other  churches  none  but  those  who  "practise"  at- 
tendance upon  class  meetings.  If  we  cannot  belieTe 
alike  on  all  points,  let  us  be  careful  how  we  impugn 
each  other's  principles.  If  we  cannot  all  have  "  one 
baptism,"  let  us  all  seek  to  have  "one  Lord,  one 
faith,  and  one  Spirit,  even  as  we  are  called  in  one 
hope  of  our  calling." 

In  summing  up  what  I  have  said  in  this  treatise, 
I  will  give  for  the  reflection  of  the  reader  a  brief 
synopsis  of  the  arguments  advanced. 

I.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  phrase,  "close 
communien,"  ought  to  be  applied  to  Baptists  at 
all.  They  go  as  far  as  they  believe  the  laws  of 
Jesus  Christ  authorize  them  to  go.  They  restrict 
their  invitations  to  all  such  as  sanction  these  laws; 
with  them  and  none  others  can  they  hold  sacra- 
mental communion. 

II.  Baptists  most  cheerfully  extend  the  hand 
of  Christian  and  ministerial  fellowship  to  any 
Christian  or  Christian  minister,  though  he  be  a 
Pedobaptist  or  even  a  Quaker.  They  do  not  con- 
sider this  spiritual  fellowship  inconsistent  with  re- 
stricted communion,  which  they  regard  essential 
only  to  church  fellowship. 

III.  The  Baptists  and  Pedobaptists  agree  that 
Baptism  is  a  preliminary  to  the  Lord's  Supper. 
The  example  of  Christ,  his  commission  to  his 
ministers,  and  the  practice  of  the  apostles  teach  it. 
We  also  have  the  testimony  of  the  apostolic  fathers, 


ON    COMMUNION.  57 

and  best  and  most  orthodox  divines  down  to  the 
{.resent  day  to  the  same  effect. 

IV.  They  differ  in  their  views  of  what  consti- 
tutes Christian  Baptism,  which  they  agree  is  the 
preliminary  to  the  Lord's  Supper;  and  they  al*o 
differ  as  to  who  are  the  proper  subjects  of  baptism. 

The  Baptists  say,  noue  but  immersed  believers 
are  the  proper  subjects  of  this  ordinance.  To 
prove  the  truth  of  their  position,  they  have  the 
example  of  Christ,  who  was  immersed  in  the 
river  Jordan — that  of  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch,  whom 
Philip  immersed — the  teachings  of  Paul,  who  calls 
it  a  burial,  &c.,  &c.j  and  nothing  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament indicates  any  other  mode  for  baptism,  as 
either  taught  or  practised  by  Christ  or  the  apostolic 
churches.  They  cannot,  therefore,  admit  sprink- 
ling or  pouring  to  be  valid  Christian  baptism. 

V.  Baptists  and  Pedobaptists  act  upon  the  same 
principle  in  admitting  persons  to  the  Lord's  Table. 
Let  both  answer  this  question — "Who  are  the 
proper  subj  ects  of  sacramental  communion  V  They 
both  answer — "None  but  baptized  believers." 
Here,  then,  we  agree  in  principle.  And  the  only 
reason  why  our  practice  disagrees,  is  because  we  do 
not  see  alike  as  to  what  constitutes  Christian  bap- 
tism. Properly  the  argument,  as  every  sensible 
man  will  see,  turns  not  upon  close  communion,  but 
baptism.  If  the  Baptists  are  right  with  regard  to 
their  views  of  baptism,  they  are  certainly  right  as 
to  their  practice  of  re'stricted  communion. 

Son.  r  fully  understand  the  ground  upon 

which  Baptists  act;  but  it  is  the  duty  of  all  Chris- 
tians to  inform  themselves  upon  this  matter,  and  to 
be  able  to  decide  as  the  unerring  pages  of  divine 


58  REMINGTON 

truth  direct;  and  as  for  those  who  are  not  candid 
in  their  censures  upon  us,  for  practising  what  we 
conscientiously  believe  to  be  right,  we  pity  them, 
and  pray  that  they  may  come  to  a  better  mind.  It 
is  not  the  design  of  Baptists  to  rob  God's  dear 
children  of  their  privilege;  and  I  have  endeavored 
to  show,  that  as  much  as  the  privilege  of  open  com- 
munion is  talked  of,  but  few  avail  themselves  of  it. 
If  it  be  a  great  privilege  for  all  Christians  to  enjoy 
jointly  sacramental  communion,  the  door  is  open. 
Let  us  have  "one  baptism/'  and  the  difficulty  is 
removed. 

VI.  The  practice  of  close  communion  does  not 
lead  to  bigotry ;  if  it  did,  we  might  reasonably  sup- 
pose,., the  Baptists  would  have  been  persecutors,  at 
some  period  of  their  history;  for  bigotry  leads  to 
persecution.  Baptists  have  never  been  persecutors ; 
but  they  cannot  say  this  of  Pedobaptists.  History 
with  trumpet-tongue  proclaims  the  cruelties  which 
Baptists  have  suffered  from  the  hands  of  Pedobap- 
tists, even  in  our  own  favored  country.  Why  is  it 
that  at  this  day,  when,  though  they  are  among  the 
largest  and  most  efficient  of  the  evangelical  churches 
of  our  land,  all  the  Pedobaptist  churches  seem  to 
count  it  a  virtue  to  unite  in  the  cry  of  bigotry, 
bigotry,  bigotry?  Are  they  afraid  of  us,  that  we 
shall  at  some  time  get  so  much  power  as  to  do  as  the 
Boman  Catholics  of  the  old  countries,  or  the  Puritans 
of  the  new  have  done?  They  have  nothing  to  fear; 
and  they  must  be  aware  that'  Baptists  cease  to  be 
Baptists  when  they  commence  a  persecuting  career. 

It  is  a  source  of  great  regret,  that  churches  will 
permit  with  impunity  their  ministers  to  be  schis- 
uutiealj  by  winking  at  what  they  allow  to  be  re- 


ON   COMMUNION.  59 

baptism,  when  fchey  profess  to  believe  with  us  that 
baptism  i-  ooi  to  be  repeated  on  the  same  person — 
that  instead  of  censuring  the  men  who  thus  depart 
from  orthodoxy,  they  virtually  approve  the  act,  by 
giving  them  the  highest  stations,  or  the  most  honor- 
in  their  church;  and  thus,  for  fche  sake 
of  preventing  people  from  becoming  Baptists,  make 
themselves  supremely  inconsistent,  by  practically 
denying  what  they  declare  to  the  world  they  believe, 
Upon  the  whole  I  know  of  no  one  point  upon  which 
the  different  Pedobaptist  churches  agree  so  well, 
as  that  of  their  united  opposition  to  the  Baptists. 

VII.  After  all  that  Pedobaptists  say  against  us 
for  our  close  communion,  they  themselves  are  not 
open  communion.  The  Presbyterians  avow  it. 
The  Episcopalians  ought  to  avow  the  same.  With 
their  notions  of  apostolical  succession — that  there  is 
no  church  without  a  prelate — no  ministry  without 
Episcopal  ordination — of  course  they  cannot  com- 
mune with  any  but  Roman  Catholics.  And  as 
they  have  decreed  that  Confirmation  is  a  prelimi- 
nary to  the  Lord's  Supper,  they  cannot  admit  to 
the  Lord's  Table  members  of  the  different  churches, 
who  do  not  believe  in  and  practise  Confirmation. 
Hence,  they  cannot  participate  with  these  churches, 
neither  jointly  nor  disjointly.     Is   not  this  close 


communion 


The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  close  com- 
munion. None  can  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's 
Table  among  them  without  the  approval  of  an  elder 
or  deacon,  and  none  can  obtain  this  without  an  ex- 
amination as  to  doctrine  and  plainness  of  dress.  If 
they  do  not  believe  as  Methodists,  they  must  pro- 
mise not  to  disseminate  thoir  peculiar  views j  fur 


60  REMINGTON 

if  they  inveigh  against  the  doctrine  or  Discipline 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  not  even  ministers  of  other 
churches  can  be  admitted.  Or  if  they  wear  rings, 
ruffles,  or  superfluities,  they  must  strip  themselves 
from  these  things  or  they  cannot  be  admitted  to 
the  Load's  Table  in  the  31.  E.  Church,  no  matter 
how  good  their  standing  may  be  in  othf1-  churches. 
Or  if  they  have  been  excluded  from  the  M.  E. 
Church  for  non-attendance  upon  class  meetings, 
and  have  connected  themselves  with  another  church, 
and  are  in  good  and  regular  standing  in  that  church, 
they  cannot  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Table  in  the 
M.  E.  Church;  neither  can  they  be  admitted  from 
..nether  church,  if  they  wilfully  absent  themselves 
from  class  meetings,  though  there  are  no  class 
meetings  in  the  church  to  which  they  belong.  For 
the  laws  of  the  M.  E.  Church  would  expel  such  from 
their  communion,  and  their  Discipline  reads — "  No 
person  shall  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper  among 
us,  who  is  guilt}7-  of  any  practice,  for  which  we 
would  exclude  a  member  of  our  church."  Hence, 
the  Discipline  of  the  31.  E.  Church  is  clearly  close 
communion,  their  practice  and  professions  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding. 

VIII.  Baptists  are  consistent  with  their  own 
declared  principles,  which  is  more  than  can  be  said 
of  some  of  our  Pedobaptist  churches.  It  is  iiot 
consistent  for  any  denomination  to  break  its  own 
laws.  If  their  laws  are  bad,  they  should  alter  and 
amend  them ;  if  their  practice  is  wrong  by  which 
they  break  their  own  laws,  they  should  change  it; 
but  they  should  always  let  their  avowed  principles 
and  practice  work  together.  But  do  our  Episco- 
palian brethren,  when  they  practise  open  commu- 


ON   COMMUNION.  61 

mon,  do  thus  ?  I  ask,  do  our  Methodist  Episcopal 
brethren  do  thus,  by  admitting  members  of  other 
churches  indiscriminately  to  the  Lord's  Table  ? 
We  know  their  Discipline  forbids  it;  but  is  it  not 
true  that  they  trample  upon  the  authority  of  their 
own  Discipline,  in  order  to  practise  open  communion 
in  contradistinction  to  Baptists  ?  Whether  the 
charge  of  bigotry  can  be  made  to  lie  against  the 
Baptists  or  not,  one  thing  is  certain,  that  the  charge 
of  manifest  inconsistency  must  lie  against  those 
denominations  whose  rules  are  close  communion,  and 
whose  professions  and  practice  are  open  communion. 
IX.  Whatever  I  have  said  in  reference  to  other 
denominations  in  this  treatise,  I  can  assure  them, 
has  not  been  said  with  any  unkind  feeling  toward 
them.  The  freedom  which  I  have  allowed  myself 
to  take  with  their  ecclesiastical  decisions  and  disci- 
plinary provisions,  has  not  been  to  bring  them  into 
disrepute,  or  even  to  find  fault  with  their  regula- 
tions. My  sole  object  has  been  to  show  that  Bap- 
tists do  not  stand  alone  in  the  exclusiveness  with 
which  they  stand  charged  by  Pedobaptist  churches, 
and  that  they  are  consistent ;  while  those  who  con- 
demn them  for  their  narrow-minded  bigotry,  are  ar- 
rayed at  the  bar  of  public  opinion,  and  stand  there 
convicted  and  condemned  as  being  constitutionally 
guilty  in  their  ecclesiastical  polity,  of  the  very  thing 
for  which  they  so  unsparingly  condemn  us.  A 
single  quotation,  therefore,  from  a  sermon  preached 
by  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  shall  close  this  little 
volume  :  "  Judge  not,  that  ye  be  not  judged.  For 
with  what  judgment  ye  judge,  ye  shall  be  judged, 
and  with  what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be  mea- 
sured to  you  again."  Matt.  vii.  1,  2. 
6 


APPENDIX 


ON  A  REGULAR  GOSPEL  CHURCH. 

A  Regular  Gospel  Church  described. — Tlte 
Lord's  Supper  a  Church  Ordinance,  and  restricted 
to  Church  members. 

The  original  word  (ekklesia),  rendered  CJiurch, 
in  the  New  Testament,  signifies  an  assembly.  It 
was  the  ancient  name  appropriated  by  the  Atheni- 
ans, to  the  regular  assembly  of  the  free  citizens, 
convoked  by  authority,  for  the  transaction  of  pub- 
lic affairs.  It  may,  however,  apply  to  an  irregular 
or  tumultuous  assembly  of  citizens  (Acts  xix.  32); 
to  a  lawful  civil  assembly  (Acts  xix.  30);  or 
religiously,  to  the  congregation  of  God's  people, 
whether  under  the  Hebrew  theocracy,  or  under  the 
Law  of  Christ.  Hence  the  congregation  of  Israel 
is  called  "the  church  in  the  wilderness"  (Acts  vii. 
88);  and  believers  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  when 
united  and  organized  into  a  body,  are  designated  by 
the  inspired  writers,  as  "  the  Church  of  God,"  and 
"  the  Church  of  Christ."  The  titles  are  synony- 
mous, because  faith  in  God  implies  faith  in  Christ. 
"  Ye  believe  in  God ;  believe  also  in  me."  (John 
xiv.  1.) 

The  New  Testament  describes  the  Church  of 
(62) 


REMINGTON    ON"    COMMUNION.  .      03 

Christ  aa  being  both  invisible  and  visible,      The  in* 

church   includes  the  whole   body  of   God's 
,  people  :  those  on  earth  and  tho.-e  ID  heaven. 
This  church  Paul  calls  "The  general  assembly  and 
church  of  the  first  born,  which  are  written  in  hea- 
Ileb.    xii.  23.     Of   the    members  of  this 
church  it  is  said,  "The  foundation  i  .ndcth 

sure,  having  this  seal,  the  Lord  knoweth  them  that 
are  his."  As  to  the  visible  Church  of  Christ,  it  is 
made  so  by  its  own  organization.  Paul  calls  it 
"  The  house  of  God — the  Church  of  the  living  God, 
the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth."  (1  Tim.  iii.  15.) 

Christ's  visible  Church  (Matt.  xvi.  18,)  is  neces- 
sarily made  up  of  particular  churches,  and  in  de- 
fining a  particular  church  in  regular  gospel  order, 
I  object  not  to  the  one  given  by  the  compilers  of  the 
39  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England.  "  A 
gregation  of  faithful  men,  in  which  the  true  word 
of  God  is  preached,  and  the  sacraments  duty  ad- 
ministered, according  to  Christ's  ordinance,  in  all 
those  things  that  of  necessity  are  requisite  to  the 
same."  The  converts  of  Pentecost,  who  constituted 
the  main  body  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  ha 
some  been  looked  upon  as  constituting  the  first  or- 
ganized church-  of  Christ.  But  this  is  evidently  an 
error.  For  were  not  Christ's  disciples  "a  congre- 
gation of  faithful  men  V1  Was  not  "  the  true  word 
of  God"  preached  to  them  by  their  Lord  and 
Master  *?  and  were  not  "  the  sacraments  duly  ad- 
ministered to  them,  according  to  Christ's  ordinance, 
in  all  those  things  that  of  necessity  are  requisite  to 

me?"     If  so,  then  the  church  wag 
by  the  great  Head  himself  while  he  was  up'  >n  earth, 
and  the  converts  of  Pentecost  became  members  of 


64  REMINGTON 

that  church.  And  hence,  says  1  nke,  Acts  ii.  41 : 
"  The  same  day  there  were  added  unto,  them  about 
three  thousand  souls."  Observe — they  "were  ad- 
ded unto  them,"  not  organized  out  of  them. 

I  will  not  contend  that  the  Church  of  Christ  was 
fully  matured  as  an  organization  while  he  was  upon 
earth.  But  its  immaturity  does  not  necessarily 
prevent  its  being  a  regular  gospel  church;  for 
whatever  deficiencies  there  may  have  been  with 
regard  to  the  appointment  of  its  ordinary  officers, 
such  as  pastors  and  deacons,  while  the  apostles  per- 
formed the  whole  work,  it  does  not  at  all  affect  it  as 
a  regularly  organized  gospel  church. 

With  these  facts  before  us,  we  are  willing  to  take 
the  apostolic  church  at  Jerusalem  for  our  model  as 
recorded  in  the  second  chapter  of  Acts.  We  have 
here  1.  The  instrumentality  by  which  the  chuich 
is  raised  up,  which  is  the  preaching  of  the  gos- 
pel by  his  servants,  and  the  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  freely  imparted  in  answer  to  prayer. 
2.  The  materials  of  which  the  church  is  composed. 
Those  who  had  been  instructed  in  the  Apostles' 
doctrine — to  whose  hearts  the  Holy  Spirit  had  ap- 
plied divine  truth — and  who  had  gladly  received 
the  word  into  truly  penitent  and  believing  hearts. 
Such  receive  the  remission  of  sins — the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  by  which  they  are  renewed,  sanctified, 
and  made  meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light,  and  prepared  to  become  fellow-citizens  with 
the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  Grod.  Such  mate- 
rials, and  such  only,  are  adapted  to  membership  in 
Christ's  visible  church.  3.  And  into  it  they  were 
inducted,  not  by  conversion  or  faith  alone,  but  by 
baptism  on  the  profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ. 


ON    COMMUNION.      •  65 

u  Then  they  tliat  gladly  received  the  word  were 
baptized."  Their  "gladly  receiving  the  word" 
3  that  the}*  were  believers;  and  their  being 
baptized  consequent  upon  their  faith,  shows  that 
they  were  not  baptized  until  after  they  believed : 
and  their  being  admitted  to  membership  in  the 
church  by,  and  after  baptism  as  believers,  also  shows 
that  the  original  church  of  Christ  was  composed  of 
none  bnt  baptized  believers.  What  then  is  a  church 
of  Christ  but  a  voluntary  association  of  baptized 
believers  under  the  law  of  Christ?  And  with  all 
deference,  to  the  opinions  of  great  and  good  men 
who  may  assert  the  contrary,  I  will  venture  to  as- 
sert, without  fear  of  successful  contradiction,  that 
this  is  characteristic  of  all  the  churches  of  the  New 
Testament — that  it  accords  with  the  commission 
given  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  his  first  minis- 
ters, (Mat.  xxviii.  19,  20,  Mark  xvi.  15,  16) — and 
therefore,  that  Baptist  churches  are  the  only 
churches  of  the  present  day,  who  are  truly  apos- 
tolic, and  regularly  organized  according  to  gospel 
order. 

A  visible  churoii  it  is  very  properly  supposed  may 
be  seen — because  it  is  a  house,  a  temple,  "  a  habita- 
tion of  God  through  the  Spirit,  built  up  of  lively 
stones"  on  Christ  the  foundation.  It  is  therefore 
to  be  presumed  that  it  has  a  door  of  entrance,  and 
that  this  door  is  also  visible.  This  presumption  is  sc 
well-founded,  and  so  explicitly  taught  in  the  New 
Testament,  that  whatever  controversies  there  may 
have  been  between  Baptists  and  Pedobaptists,  they 
generally  agree  that  baptism  is  the  door  of  entrance 
into  the  lisible  church,  and  that  it  should  precede 
6* 


66  REMINGTON 

the  Lord's  Supper.*  The  points  of  disagreerrent 
are  as  to  the  subjects,  and  what  is  necessary  to  con- 
stitute Christian  baptism. 

As  Baptists  we  regard  immersion  to  be  essential 


*  Christ  alone  is  the  door  into  the  Church  Invisible.  John 
x.  7 — 9.  The  manifestation  of  His  image  and  spirit  entitles 
the  soul  to  universal  Christian  fellowship.  Rom.  xv.  7.  But 
Christ  as  Lord  over  all  things  to  the  church,  has  appointed  a 
visible  avenue  or  door  of  entrance  into  His  Visible  Church, 
viz.  Baptism,  on  the  personal  profession  of  faith  in  His  name. 
Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20.    Acts  ii.  38,  41,  42,  47. 

It  is  true,  some  have  called  this  view  in  question.  "If," 
say  they,  "baptism  be  the  door  into  the  visible  church,  how 
can  a  man,  once  baptized,  be  put  out  of  the  church,  let  his  con- 
duct or  creed  become  ever  so  corrupt  ?  Can  he  be  unbaptized  ?" 
Errors  often  arise,  as  in  this  instance,  from  misapplying  or 
straining  figures  of  speech.  Let  us  study  to  obtain  clear  ideas. 
If  any  force  appears  in  the  objection  derived  from  the  figure 
of  a  door,  as  urged  above,  it  is  because  men  forget  for  the  mo- 
ment that  a  visible  church  of  Christ,  like  some  spacious  build- 
ing, has  more  doors  than  one.  Carry  out  the  figure  fairly,  and 
the  objection  vanishes.  There  is  the  front  door  of  Admission 
having  its  two  folds,  by  baptism  and  by  letter ;  there  is  the 
right  side  door  of  Dismission  to  sister  churches;  the  left  side 
door  of  Exclusion  for  persevering  offence ;  and  the  great 
hall  door  of  Death,  which  leads  the  holy  to  the  celestial  man- 
sions. The  "  keys"  to  open  and  shut  all  those  doors,  (the 
last  excepted,)  are  delivered  alike  by  Christ,  to  the  members  of 
every  gospel  church.  See  Matt.  xvi.  19,  xviii.  18 — 20.  Ac- 
cordingly, we  see  the  primitive  churches  in  the  actual  use  of 
them.     Acts  ix.  26— 28.     2  Cor.  iii.  1.     1  Cor.  v. 

Besides  the  doors  of  the  church  thus  established  by  its  Di- 
vine Head,  there  is  one  of  modern  construction,  and  more 
questionable  shape.  It  is  a  sort  of  trap  door  called  Erasion. 
through  which  erring  or  missing  members  are  silently  dropped, 
into  the  ungodly  world.  But  of  this  it  is  unnecessary  to  say 
more,  than  that  it  is  sometimes  convenient  for  purging  <  ur 
church  lists  from  unknown  and  unknowable  absentees,  and  to 
euch  its  use  should  be  confined.  A  false  tenderness  should 
not  adopt  it  for  known  offenders,  since  it  is  only  by  mercy  and 
truth  that  iniquity  is  purged,  J.  N.  B. 


ON   COMMUNION.  67 

to  Christian  baptism ;  because  we  believe  that  Jesus 
Christ  taught  it  by  example  and  command,  and  thai 
his  teachings  wore  observed  to  the  letter  by  the 
inspired  apostles;  and  consequently  that  neither 
sprinkling  n>>r  pouring  was  ever  thought  of  in  the 
church  as  constituting  valid  baptism. 

A  similar  remark  is  applicable  to  the  proper  sub- 
jects of  this  ordinance — that  according  to  Christ's 
command,  and  the  example  of  inspired  men  none 
but  credible  believers  were  immersed.  And  when 
immersed  on  profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ,  they 
were  thereby  made  members  of  the  church  of  Christ, 
and  entitled  to  church  fellowship.  "  And  they 
continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and 
fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  prayers." 
Acts  ii.  42. 

The  point  to  which  the  reader's  attention  is  now 
directed,  is  this.  Is  the  Lard's  Supper  a  church  ordi- 
nance? And  if  so,  are  any  but  members  of  a  regu- 
lar gospel  church  allowed  to  partake  of  it? 

These  questions  have  long  since  been  answered. 
They  are  answered  by  the  fact  that  baptism  is  the 
first  duty  subsequent  upon  believing.  It  was  so 
with  the  converts  of  Pentecost.  (Acts  ii.  41,  42.) 
The  church  in  Samaria — u  But  when  they  believed — 
they  were  baptized,  both  men  and  women."  (Acts 
viii.  12.)  The  first  Oentile  church — "While  Peter 
yet  spake  these  words  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all 
them  which  heard  the  word."  "Then  answered 
Peter,  Can  any  forbid  water,  that  these  should  not 
be  baptized  which  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost  as 
well  as  we  ?  And  he  commanded  them  to  be  bap- 
tized," (Acts  x.  44,  also  46,  47,  48.)  The  firs* 
thing  that  is  said  of  Lydia,   "whose  heart  the  Lord 


68  REMINGTON 

opened"  so  that  she  attended  unto  the  things  which 
were  spoken  of  Paul — is  that  she  was  baptized. 
(Acts  xvi.  14,  15.)  So  "the  same  hour  of  the 
night"  that  the  jailor  " believed  in  God  with  all 
his  house,"  he  and  all  his  were  straightway  baptized. 
(Acts  xvi.  31-34.) 

The  argument  may  be  thus  stated:  All  true 
believers  ought  to  be  baptized — baptized  believers 
are  entitled  to  church  fellowship — baptism  being 
the  first  duty  after  believing,  it  follows  that  the 
Lord's  Supper  must  be  a  church  ordinance,  and 
confined  exclusively  to  church  members.  And  so  it 
has  ever  been  regarded  by  the  main  body  of  orthodox 
divines  from  the  days  of  Justin  Martyr  down  to  the 
present  century.  Dr.  Dwight  remarks:  "It  is  an 
indispensable  qualification  for  this  ordinance,  that 
the  candidate  for  communion  be  a  member  of  the 
visible  church  of  Christ  in  full  standing.  By  this  I 
intend  that  he  should  be  a  person  of  piety,  that  he 
should  have  made  a  public  profession  of  religion, 
and  that  he  should  have  been  baptized." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  source  whence 
these  numerous  divines  have  derived  their  views  on 
this  question.  They  were  obliged  to  admit  that 
baptism  is  the  door  into  the  visible  church — a  pre- 
requisite to  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  that  none  are 
entitled  to  the  communion  but  members  of  the 
church  of  Christ.  With  these  admissions,  is  not 
the  Lord's  Supper  a  church  ordinance?  We  think 
so;  not  simply  because  these  divines  believed  it, 
but  because  the  word  of  God  teaches  it. 

In  addition  to  the  reasons  already  given  in  favor 
of  this  point,  there  are  two  very  important  argu- 
lnmts  which,  in   my  mind,   decide   the  question. 


ON   COMMUNION.  69 

The  first  is  that  the  Lord's  Supper  was  instituted 
by  Jesua  Christ  in  a  church  capacity.  (See  Matt. 
xxvi.2i>-Mi>;  Mark  xv.  22-2<5;  Luke xxii.  19,20.) 
in  «■  insulting  these  passages  the  reader  will  perceive 
th  it  the  Lord's  Supper  was  not  instituted  by  a  mere 
command,  but  by  an  actual  partaking  of  the  symbol* 
of  Christ's  broken  body  and  shed  blood,  in  their 
collective  capacity,  with  the  strict  injunction  of  our 
L-ud  to  continue  its  observance  in  like  manner. 
"  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me." 

Consequently  the  second  argument  is,  that  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  observed  by  the  apostolic  direc- 
tion, not  only  according  to  the  form  that  Christ 
gave  them,  but  in  a  church  capacity.  By  consult- 
ing 1  Cor.  xi.,  you  will  perceive  that  Paul  corrects 
certain  evils  which  had  unfortunately  been  intro- 
duced into  the  church  of  Corinth,  one  of  which  was 
an  abuse  of  the  Lord's  Supper  in  not  observing  it 
according  to  the  form  given  by  Jesus  Christ  at  the 
time  he  instituted  it.  In  stating  the  case,  and  re- 
proving his  Corinthian  brethren,  Paul  takes  it  i<  r 
granted  that  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a  church  ordi- 
nance. For  when  they  celebrated  it  "they  came 
together" — "they  came  together  in  one  place." 
(verses  17,  18,  20.)  He  did  not  blame  them  for 
coming  together  in  the  church  (ekklesta)  collec- 
tively— this  was  all  right,  providing  "they  came 
together  for  the  better,  and  not  for  the  w 
Their  offence  consisted  in  making  a  literal  feast  of 
the  ordinance,  and  thereby  perverting  it  from  its 
design,  and  profaning  it.  Hence  he  expostulates': 
"What!  have  ye  not  houses  to  eat  and  drink  in i* 
Or  despise  ye  the  church  of  God  ?  Shall  I  praiio 
you  in  this?     I  praise  you  not,"  v.  22. 


70  REMINGTON 

The  reader  will  remark,  that  the  apostle  takes  it 
for  granted  that  the  Lord's  Supper  was  celebrated 
by  the  church  in  its  collective  capacity.  This  fact 
was"  understood,  and  never  questioned.  The  reasons 
must  appear  obvious.  1.  It  is  an  ordinance  to 
which  none  have  a  right  but  church  members.  2. 
It  was  instituted  by  Jesus  Christ  to  be  observed  by 
Lis  church.  3.  To  this  agrees  the  practice  of  the 
churches  of  Christ  while  under  the  supervision  of 
the  inspired  apostles. 

By  observing  this  ordinance  otherwise,  it  loses 
much  of  its  significance.  Christ's  church  is  his 
family,  and  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is 
instituted  to  be  observed  by  his  family  to  com- 
memorate his  love  to  them,  when  they  were  pur- 
chased by  his  precious  blood.  It  is  an  act  by 
which  they  express  their  obedience,  and  their  grati- 
tude, and  in  which  the  body  holds  communion  with 
Christ  the  head.  And  I  may  add,  it  is  also  an  act 
by  which  the  body  expresses  its  oneness — that  they 
are  members  one  of  another,  and  that  these  many 
members  fellowship  each  other  as  being  one  body, 
thereby  showing  that  "by  one  Spirit  we  are  all 
baptized  into  one  body,  whether  we  be  Jews  or 
Gentiles,  whether  we  be  bond  or  free;  and  have 
been  all  made  to  drink  into  one  Spirit."     Hence, 

1.  We  learn  that  the  church  of  Christ  organized 
according  to  gospel  order,  must  be  composed  of  bap- 
tized believers.  Baptism  being  confined  exclusively 
to  believers,  it  follows  that  there  are  no  infants  in 
the  gospel  church;  for  if  they  are  to  be  baptized  on 
the  faith  of  their  parents,  the  same  authority  by 
which  they  are  baptized  would  require  them  to 
become  communicants. 


ON    COMMUNION.  71 

2.  Pedobaptists  who  are  united  in  a  oongre 

may  be  regarded  as  a  Church,  and  a  Christian 
church,  though  they  have  never  been  baptized  ac- 
cnrdin  3t*a  example  and  command  ;  but  they 

cannot  be  fellowshiped  as  a  regular  gospel  church. 

3.  We  learn  the  reason  why  Bap;', 
commune  with  such.  It  is  not  because  we  do  n->t 
regard  them  as  Christians,  but  because  they  have 
not  been  baptized.  To  speak  plainly,  they  are  not 
members  of  a  regular  gospel  church.  We  may 
extend  to  them  the  hand  of  Christian  fellowship, 
but  not  the  hand  of  Church  fellowship. 

4.  This  practice  if  rightly  understood  is  not  un- 
charitable. Pedobaptists  will  not  commune  with 
unbaptized  believers,  though  they  believe  then 
Christians.  In  this  we  perfectly  agree.  We  are 
even  more  liberal  than  they,  because  we  will  com- 
mune with  all  whom  we  baptize  into  the  fellowship 
of  the  church;  but  they  will  not — they  baptize 
multitudes  whom  they  never  admit  to  the  Lord's 
Table.     They  are  therefore  closer  than  Bapr' 

5.  If  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a  church  ordinance 
to  be  observed  by  a  church  collectively,  then  I  ask, 
is  it  proper  to  admit  to  the  communion  with  us 
even  baptized  believers  who  are  members  of  Pedo- 

-  churches,  and  by  their  exam;  I 
sprinkling  and  pouring  for  Christian  baptism?  Or 
to  baptize  believers  with  a  view  to  their  uniting 
with  Pedobaptist  churches,  vrhcre  we  know  tha 
will  sanction  by  that  act  what  is  called  infant  bap- 
tism, as  well  as  sprinkling  and  pouring,  for  thus 
sacred  ordinance?  It  does  appear  to  me. that  con- 
sistency will  not  permit  us  in  either  of  these  ways 
to  countenance  what  we  as  Baptists  so  distinctively 


t  a  REMINGTON 

contend  to  be  in  opposition  to  gospel  order.  Can 
we  conscientiously  baptize  any  one,  who  we  know 
will  immediately  nullify  what  he  has  done  by  walk- 
ing disorderly — which  he  will  do,  if  he  sanctions 
either  by  word  or  act,  any  thing  for  a  valid  baptism 
but  that  of  the  immersion  of  believers  ? 

6.  This  view  of  the  subject  will  lead  us  to  ques- 
tion the  propriety  of  administering  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per to  the  sick  unless  the  church  be  convened.  If 
our  position  be  correct,  then  certainly  it  is  not  pro- 
per to  administer  it  to  individuals  without  first  noti- 
fying the  church  of  which  they  are  members,  and 
obtaining  the  appointment  by  the  church  of  a  suffi- 
cient number  to  represent  them.  I  know  it  may 
be  argued  that  the  sick  would,  under  these  circum- 
stances, be  often  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  com- 
munion while  upon  their  dying  beds.  The  great 
question  is,  have  we  Bible  authority  for  the  practice  ? 
If  we  have  not,  then  we  should  submit  with  pious 
resignation.  There  are  many  other  privileges  which 
the  sick  cannot  enjoy,  and  it  is  a  very  great  attain- 
ment to  submit  patiently  to  suffer  the  will  of  God 
concerning  us — a  much  greater  evidence  of  the  ex- 
istence and  possession  of  the  Christian  graces  than 
it  would  be  to  attend  to  any  form  which  the  gospel 
requires  of  us  under  other  circumstances.  The 
hour  of  affliction  and  death,  of  all  others,  is 
the  one  when  we  should  rely  upon  Christ  alone. 
The  fewer  forms  we  have  to  attend  to  then,  the 
better.  And  the  dear  Redeemer  has  wisely  ordered 
that  his  saints  shall  then  be  so  circumstanced  aa  to 
be  constrained  to  say,  "  None  but  Christ  V 

THE   END 


